Honey from watermelon juice. Do you need bees to make watermelon honey? How to use watermelon honey

Nardekom is called fragrant watermelon honey from ripe striped berries. It is believed that nardek is an invention of Central Asian cuisine, later adopted by the Don Cossacks. Over time, almost all melon growers began to cook watermelon honey, because the safety of the crop is up to next year guaranteed satiety big family. Today, watermelon honey is brewed not only in South Asia, but also in the south of Russia, as well as in the Lower Volga region.

Nardek is the result of the folk experience of the Central Asian peoples. Since ancient times, the annual harvest of watermelons was so huge that they had to somehow be stored for the winter. It was impossible to eat the entire crop of watermelons, and watching how it disappears is also not the case. Striped berries were dried, salted, candied fruits and watermelon honey were cooked from them.

At its core, nardek is a thick boiled syrup made from juice and pulp, obtained as a result of boiling on open fire. The main difference between watermelon honey and many other sweet delicacies is that it is prepared without sugar.

Sometimes watermelon honey called bekmes, but this is not entirely correct. Bekmes (honey from grapes) is a close relative of nardek, as well as irchal (bekmes with berries added) and cue ( fruit honey with sugar. The word "nardek" itself is of Turkish origin, meaning pomegranate juice syrup.

APPLICATION

Most often, nardek is used as fragrant dessert served with tea instead of jam or jam.

In the Cossack villages, pancakes and, casseroles and donuts are poured over people's deputies, or they are simply eaten with a piece of freshly baked bread. Watermelon honey is also used as a filling for pies, cheesecakes, cookies. Candied watermelon is also made from nardek.

To quench your thirst, you can dilute nardek with water and get a delicious natural drink.

For the treatment and prevention of liver diseases watermelon honey added to the decoction of oats.

For the treatment of kidneys and diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, nardec is added to tea or to special decoctions.

Rosehip decoction with watermelon honey is an excellent prophylactic for cardiovascular diseases.

Watermelon honey with onion juice and apple cider vinegar will help cure even an old cough.

COOKING

Nardek cooking begins in late autumn, when the main harvest striped berry already sold. From small watermelons cut in half, the juicy pulp is taken out with a spoon, which is passed through a frequent hair sieve. The resulting liquid is poured into a cast-iron vat and placed on an open fire in the yard. The juice is boiled until it turns into a thick brown syrup with the smell of watermelon.

The density of watermelon honey depends on the cooking time. As a rule, its consistency is similar to heavy cream or young honey. Ready nardek is poured into containers, most often in glass jars or clay pots. You can store nardek in a cool basement or refrigerator.

BENEFIT

Nardek contains vitamins and useful elements that are in the watermelon itself. These are vitamins C and PP, B and E, as well as beta-carotene, iron, calcium, potassium, magnesium, phosphorus, folic acid and pectin.

useful for bronchitis and laryngitis, diseases of cardio-vascular system. It treats colds and restores the work of the stomach, increases the level of hemoglobin and has a beneficial effect on the functioning of the liver and kidneys.

Today I learned about watermelon honey for the first time! You should definitely cook it when the watermelon season starts!

watermelon honey or nardek. Have you ever tried this wonderful product? If not, then this article is for you! Read on and you will find out what useful properties it has, how to cook nardek and how to treat it!

Watermelon season gives us a great opportunity not only to enjoy this amazing delicious berry and get the most out of it for your health! Consisting of more than 90% water, watermelon has a great effect on digestion, improves appetite and quenches thirst remarkably.

Watermelon honey:

For those who watch their health, September is a great time for:

• carrying out watermelon washing,
• improve liver function,
• kidney,
• saturation of the body with easily digestible sugars.
• Watermelon is indicated for patients suffering from stomach ulcers and
• duodenum, and
• kidney disease and
• spine.

For those who want to lose weight, there is a wonderful reason to spend fasting days on watermelons. Fiber and pectin, of which there are so many in watermelon, help start the work of the intestines, relieve constipation, remove cholesterol. Excellent watermelon speeds up and metabolism. More pleasant getting rid of extra pounds with health benefits is probably hard to imagine.

For women, watermelon is an excellent source of folic acid, beta-carotene and vitamins B and C, which prevent skin aging and help prolong youth.

But few people know that the benefits of watermelons can be preserved for winter period, having prepared one great product that is good for health - watermelon honey!

In Central Asia watermelon honey is called nardek, cook and store it so much that it is enough for the entire winter period. But for us, this product is just beginning to lift the veil of secrecy. But watermelon honey is rich in vitamins and useful amino acids.

Benefits of watermelon honey:

• it contains all the vitamins, micro and macro elements that are in watermelon: , PP, E and B, iron, beta-carotene, pectin, calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, folic acid, potassium,
• useful for bronchitis
• good for laryngitis
• treats colds,
• diseases of the cardiovascular system,
• restores the work of the stomach,
• beneficial effect on the functioning of the kidneys and liver,
• increases hemoglobin in the blood,
• helps in the treatment of tuberculosis,
• used to prevent atherosclerosis,
• indispensable for nutrition oncological diseases,
• increases the body's resistance, strengthens the immune system.

Since watermelon honey is prepared without sugar, and without bees, it is an excellent valuable food product for those who are allergic to bee products and cannot afford regular bee honey.

Watermelon honey - contraindications:

• obesity,
• diabetes.

Personally, I have never seen watermelon honey sold in a store, but making it at home is not at all difficult, especially while there are still watermelons on the market. As a matter of fact, nardek is evaporated during prolonged boiling watermelon juice. It does not require sugar, but it will take your time. But, I am sure that you will not regret it by preparing valuable watermelon honey, the recipe of which you will find below.

How to cook Nardek:

My watermelons and cut into several pieces. Cut out the pulp.

Grind the pulp and wipe through a colander.

We put the juice on fire large saucepan, bring to a boil, removing the foam.

Now strain the juice through cheesecloth and put it on fire again. When boiling, the fire should be reduced to a minimum and cook with constant stirring to avoid burning the juice to the walls and bottom of the pan. Cook watermelon honey until its volume is reduced by 5 times. The readiness of the nardeka is checked in the same way as the readiness of the jam - the cooled drop does not spread on the plate. Ready honey is poured into hot sterile jars and rolled up with lids.

It is better to store watermelon honey in the refrigerator.

How to use watermelon honey:

1. In cooking, nardek can be added to the dough for baking desserts instead of natural honey, it can be added as a natural sweetener to cereals, cottage cheese and tea.
2. To quench your thirst - dilute a tablespoon of watermelon honey in a glass of water.
3. For the prevention and treatment of liver diseases, add nardek to oat decoction.
4. For the treatment of diseases of the gastrointestinal tract and kidneys, add watermelon honey to tea or special decoctions.
5. For the prevention of cardiovascular diseases, add nardek to rosehip broth.
6. Even an old cough will help cure watermelon honey in combination with onion juice and apple cider vinegar.

Just don't overdo it!

"Live easy!" warns: when overeating, gastritis can worsen and even vomiting can open. Therefore, introduce watermelon honey into your diet gradually - a teaspoon per day.

And be healthy!

The season of watermelons is a great opportunity to enjoy the tastes of this berry, as well as get maximum benefit for good health. Many housewives make preparations for the winter, freezing, boiling, pickling, salting watermelons. But few people know that you can cook another wonderful delicacy - honey from watermelons. It keeps well, and when cold winter evening warm with wonderful taste and aroma of sunny summer.

What is it - And what is it called unusual delicacy? It is obtained from the juice of this berry, which is boiled until thickened. Surprisingly, neither sugar nor other additives are required to prepare the delicacy.

Honey or no honey?

As you can see, the bees are not involved in the preparation of this product. Maybe you shouldn't call it honey at all? In fact, the name is given rather because of the color and consistency. Outwardly, the treat really resembles natural honey, collected by bees. Most Russian-speaking people familiar with this product call it watermelon honey.

Other names

Surprisingly, this product is very common abroad. As a rule, watermelon honey is called pekmez there. This word is of Asian origin. Along with it, the terms "bekmez" and "bekmes" are used, denoting the juice of berries or fruits boiled to a jelly-like consistency. The most common is the name "Nardek".

Origin of the recipe

Watermelon honey has always been boiled in autumn, when there are a lot of watermelons and they are inexpensive. The birthplace of this treat is considered middle Asia in which it was prepared by many peoples. Later, the experience of cooking and the recipe were adopted by the Don Cossacks. Thanks to them, the dish became widespread, many melon growers began to cook it.

Cossacks cooked nardek in late autumn. The main batch was already sold out, and the remaining small, but pot-bellied berries were used to make honey. Watermelons were cut in half, the pulp was scooped out with spoons, passed through a sieve to get juice. The resulting liquid was poured into a cast-iron cauldron, boiled over an open fire, without even adding sugar. The juice was boiled until it turned into a thick brown syrup. The consistency of the nardeq was supposed to resemble ordinary young honey. The readiness of the delicacy was determined on this basis. Ready honey was stored in clay pots or rolled into jars, as we do.

Adyghe people serve nardek for tea, pour it over pancakes, donuts and casseroles, spread it on bread.

Today, watermelon honey, the recipe of which continues to change, is brewed almost everywhere. Some contribute to it additional ingredients, giving new tastes and extending the shelf life, but someone remains true to the classics.

Benefit

Surely, before making honey from watermelons, you thought about whether this product is good for health. Nardek perfectly retains all the benefits fresh watermelon. Sugar is not used in the preparation, the product achieves its taste only thanks to the content of natural ingredients.

A delicious treat strengthens the immune system and improves appetite. In addition, nardec has a beneficial effect on the functioning of the kidneys, liver, gastrointestinal tract and cardiovascular system. Doctors recommend including this product in the menu of those who suffer from tuberculosis and other acute and chronic diseases. respiratory tract. Regular use Nardeka in food increases hemoglobin, helps to cope with atherosclerosis and even prevents the growth of tumors.

Preparation of products for watermelon honey

Juice boils down a lot. In order to get a kilogram of the product, you need 15 kg of raw materials.

Choose sweet varieties juicy pulp. Rinse the watermelons thoroughly, let them dry. Cut in half or into several pieces - as you prefer. Separate the pulp.

Getting juice

Go through the pulp, breaking or cutting into pieces and removing the stones. To squeeze the juice, you can use a juicer or squeeze it manually through a sieve. Many squeeze the resulting slurry also through gauze. If you do not remove all the bones and squeeze out the juice with a juicer before making honey from a watermelon, particles of seeds can get into the product. This will give it a bitter taste.

Cooking stage

Let's get down to the most responsible business. Honey from watermelons is boiled over medium heat, stirring and removing the foam. After a few hours, the juice will be reduced by half. Extinguish the fire, and pour the mass into another dish and let cool. Leave the nardek in the dark cool place at 12 o'clock. Pass the juice through a sieve again, repeat the stage of boiling, settling and straining three times. Each time the syrup will thicken more and more.

You should not cook nardek in one go, because in this case it will turn out to be excessively dark, and it will burn to the bottom. It is better to spend time, make an effort - and the result will be delicious and beautiful honey from watermelons.

How to check readiness?

Transparent amber nardek should be thick enough. Put a few drops on a plate and rotate it - the honey will not spread. By the way, you can use this technique to determine the readiness of any jam.

Harvesting for the future

Ready honey from watermelons, remove from the stove and leave to cool. In the meantime, prepare the jars: wash, sterilize, wipe dry. When the nardek has cooled to 40 degrees, strain it through a sieve, and then arrange it in jars. It remains to seal tightly.

Storage

Cool the jars under a warm blanket, and then transfer them to the cellar, garage, shed - where it is cool. If space permits, jars can also be stored in the refrigerator. If you do not have a basement and a balcony, leave watermelon honey in the closet. Try to limit the amount of light.

Application of watermelon honey

This product can be used even during diets. Add a spoonful of honey to your drinks for sweetness. Watermelon honey is very sweet and fragrant, but not at all high-calorie. If you use it in reasonable quantities, it will not harm the figure. A few spoonfuls of nardek dissolved in a glass of water will help quench your thirst.

For colds, it is useful to prepare the following mixture: combine in equal parts watermelon honey, apple cider vinegar and finely chopped onion. Stir and let it brew a little. It is recommended to dissolve a spoonful of the resulting product in the mouth slowly. To improve the functioning of the digestive tract, replace sugar in the diet with nardek. In acute conditions during liver diseases, exacerbations can be relieved with a decoction of oats with the addition of a small amount watermelon honey. If you regularly take rosehip tea sweetened with watermelon honey, you can increase and stabilize the level of hemoglobin in the blood and get rid of pain in the heart.

You can eat this product just for fun. It can be added to fillings for pies, cheesecakes, pastries, combined with fruits and cottage cheese. Nardek is very tasty in combination with pancakes, donuts, pancakes.

The nutritional value

Before making honey from watermelon, many people learn about its low calorie content. 100 grams of nardec contains only 110 kilocalories, although this product contains about 60% sugar. For this reason, doctors allow it to be used even by those who are sick. diabetes. In addition, nardek contains 9% fat and no more than 1% protein.

Try this dessert for family and friends. This healthy treat will not leave anyone indifferent.

• 1. Composition
• 2. Useful properties
• 3. Contraindications
• 4. Choice of this variety
• 5. Recipes with this variety for health

Honey card

Fragrant and unusually tasty watermelon honey is prepared from the juice of ripe and juicy watermelons. It was first prepared many centuries ago in Central Asia.

Today, the product is made in many European and other countries, because it is not only satisfying and tasty, but also incredibly healthy.

Oddly enough, but watermelon honey is produced without any intervention of bees. It is prepared by people themselves.

To obtain a tasty and sweet treat, only the most ripe fruit watermelon. We offer a recipe for this unusual product:

1. Rinse watermelons, dry, cut into large pieces and put in large saucepan where the product will be cooked in the future.
2. Remove the pulp with a wooden spoon, pass through a fine sieve. Thus, the bones are separated in parallel.
3. Strain the pulp with several layers of gauze to obtain juice.
4. Put the resulting juice on low heat and bring to a boil, stirring all the time with a wooden spoon.
5. Turn off the heat, remove the resulting foam and strain again. Put it on the stove again.
6. Boil the product until tender, removing the foam and stirring. Ready honey is considered when it reaches a thick consistency, a decrease in volume, the product should drain in separate drops.

watermelon honey

Compound

Watermelon honey contains sugars, such as glucose, fructose, sucrose, approximately 12%, in addition, the delicacy contains a large number of vitamins PP, B, C, provitamin A, pectins, fiber, salts of iron, manganese, magnesium, nickel, potassium.

The sweetness of watermelon is determined by the presence of fructose, which contains more than half of all sugars. A 4 kg fruit contains about 150 g of pure natural fructose.

Thus, the composition of the delicacy includes the following elements:

• carbohydrates;
• fructose, sucrose, glucose;
• folic acid;
• vitamins;
• enzymes;
• trace elements;
• carotenoids;
• alkaloids, etc.

Beneficial features

Watermelon honey contains all useful and medicinal properties, which are inherent in watermelon.

Watermelon honey is recommended for the treatment of colds and viral diseases. It can be bronchitis, laryngitis, severe cough, tonsillitis. To combat these ailments, the product is either drunk, mixed with onion juice and apple cider vinegar, or used as a gargle.

Excellent and very effective assistant is watermelon honey in diseases of the cardiovascular and circulatory systems. It is used in complex therapy, adding rosehip infusion. Also, this recipe helps to increase the level of hemoglobin, and also enhances the body's ability to fight various diseases and viruses.

Watermelon honey is considered enough a good remedy prevention of atherosclerosis. By adding not sugar, but watermelon honey to tea, you can effectively help restore the functioning of the kidneys, liver and stomach. The product allows you to fight against pathological changes in liver cells, and also contributes to the normalization of their condition. It is very useful to take a mixture of Nardeca with oats decoction.

IN traditional medicine Nardek is widely used for the treatment of venereal and oncological diseases, tuberculosis, etc.

Contraindications

Watermelon honey is not recommended for patients suffering from diabetes, as well as obesity. People with reduced kidney function, impaired urine outflow, and stones in the body should also limit themselves from drinking honey.

There may be a personal intolerance to watermelon.

The choice of this variety

A distinctive feature of the nardek is that it is prepared without the inclusion of sugar in the recipe. Quality product must have thick consistency similar to bee medicine. Watermelon honey has a dark red color and a delicate watermelon flavor.

Recipes with this variety for health

1. To prepare a tonic mask, mix nardek, vegetable oil in equal proportions, add a pinch of salt and a glass of thick milk semolina porridge. Mix everything and apply on the face for about half an hour.
2. You can restore the elasticity of the skin by simply rubbing it with a swab previously moistened with a watermelon potion.
3. From burns, redness, skin pollution, a lotion from Nardeka and cucumber juice V equal proportions. By adding a little alcohol, you can fight purulent acne.
4. Bronchitis, cough, sore throat. Take two tablespoons every hour and a half of a mixture of radish juice and honey in proportions of 2:1.

Here in this article I told you how to make jam and honey from. Today I will tell you how to cook another wonderful healthy honey -

Watermelon juice contains 8-12% sugar. If this juice is separated from the pulp and boiled, then you can get thick syrup, which is called watermelon honey. Such boiled syrup is also called bekmes - boiled fruit or berry juice. In the East, watermelon honey is also called nardek.

Watermelon honey can be stored without spoiling long time and you can cook it at home. Distinctive feature nardek is that it is boiled without sugar.

How to cook watermelon honey

To make honey from watermelon, you need to take watermelons good varieties, sweet and fully ripe. It is impossible to use spoiled, with traces of decay, crumpled, diseased, watermelons for the preparation of watermelon honey. You can cook watermelon honey from an unripe watermelon, but it will be sour. Watermelons selected for the preparation of watermelon honey are thoroughly washed with water, removing all impurities. Cut into 2-4 pieces. When cutting a watermelon, part of the juice flows out, so it is better to cut a watermelon in a basin. Then this juice can be collected.

From a cut watermelon, a metal spoon is used to select the pulp and collect it in a basin or a wide pan. The collected pulp is crushed with a wooden pusher or chopped. Rub through a sieve or colander to separate the seeds. Then the juice is filtered through gauze to more fully separate the juice from the pulp.

Prepared juice is put on the stove. As soon as the watermelon juice boils, a reddish foam forms. This foam is made up of protein particles and watermelon colorants. Boiled juice should be immediately removed from the heat and strained to separate it from the foam and clean the juice from pulp particles as much as possible. Then the juice is again put on fire and the water is evaporated from it. Evaporation should be carried out slowly, not allowing the juice to boil. In the East, the evaporation of the juice is carried out in the sun. But it's hot there. When evaporating the juice, you need to stir constantly so that it does not burn.

Watermelon juice is boiled until its volume is reduced by 5-6 times. After that, watermelon honey is checked for readiness. To do this, take a few drops of watermelon honey and drip onto a cold saucer or plate. For faster cooling before sampling, the plate can be placed in the freezer or refrigerator. The cooled drop should not spread, or it may spread very slowly. Well-brewed watermelon juice has a viscous consistency.

Ready watermelon honey can also be stored in a leaky sealed container. In this case, you need to store in the refrigerator or other cool place. You can pour ready-made watermelon honey into clean sterilized jars and roll up with boiled lids.

Watermelon honey saves everything beneficial features watermelon, contains vitamins A, E, PP, vitamins of group B, macro and microelements that are important for humans.

IN winter time such honey from watermelon will not only replenish your body with vitamins and minerals, but also help to cope with colds. But in winter they are not rare.

Watermelon honey is drunk mixed with onion juice and apple cider vinegar for bronchitis, laryngitis, severe cough.

Useful watermelon honey and cardiovascular diseases. With it, you can increase hemoglobin in the blood, take it as a prophylactic to prevent atherosclerosis, restore the functioning of the stomach and kidneys. When taking a decoction of oats with watermelon honey, you can normalize the liver.