Smoke ’Em If You Got ’Em
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IN THIS ISSUE: Bees take Manhattan and editors eat leftovers.
Appetizers
Empire State of Hive
Don’t ask me how, but a few weeks ago I found myself on the roof of the Empire State Building's sixth floor as part of an apiarian quest. Despite the cacophonous surroundings, the historic Midtown building has been home to rooftop beehives for years now.
The two hives on the roof each house somewhere around 50,000 bees. Workers at buildings like the Empire State Building can go to semi-regular events to see the bees and take home a jar of honey (each hive produces about 100 jars of honey every year), and bees, I guess, get a home atop an art deco architectural marvel—somewhat of a fair tradeoff.
The hives are run by a company called Alveole, which, among other things, describes itself as a “tenant experience platform,” startup speak for “we bring bees to your building, but it’s OK—in fact it’s actually pretty cool.” The company was started by someone who clearly just liked beekeeping, but also realized he could sell it as a service to luxury landlords.
Though the company isn’t in the business of selling the honey, some tenants across town have begun incorporating it into their businesses. The M Social Times Square hotel now serves cocktails with the hyperlocal Times Square honey from its roof, and the Marcus Samuelsson restaurant Hav & Mar has also added in some Chelsea nectar collected from the Starrett-Lehigh building.
Atop the Empire State Building’s roof, the beekeeper (whose job is to go from commercial building to commercial building tending the hives) let me dip my finger into the honeycomb and take a taste. It was undeniably quality, sweet honey; I would absolutely add it to tea or a baked good. Did I detect a subtle note of cab fumes? Chalk it up to Herald Square honey terroir. —Cale
The Once and Future Leftovers
An interesting quirk of our editorial timeline: By the time a hot-and-fresh new recipe hits your inbox each week, the Gourmet Taste Kitchen is likely just finishing up our leftovers from that same recipe. Here’s what we did with them this week, a little postcard from the future:
The leftovers from a whole cooked bird are the perk of all perks for a recipe tester—iron waiting to be forged into any number of dinners. In this case, I started by simmering the carcass with the stems and leafy bits from the four heads of green garlic I got in my CSA to yield a quart of exceptionally smoky and flavorful stock. (It smelled so vividly of woodsmoke that everyone who entered the house while it was burbling away asked what I was grilling.) To this alluring base I added three handfuls of leftover steamed cabbage, two cups of cooked Italian butter beans and a splash of their jus, and whatever chicken I hadn’t already eaten cold straight from the fridge while I made dinner for the kids. Scrounger’s delight! Simmered just until the beans thickened the broth somewhat, the result called to mind a sort of stripped-down Brunswick stew, hearty and satisfying. With a side of rice, plenty of chili crisp, and some chilled red, it made for an excellent cool-evening dinner and two more lunches besides. —Amiel
Smoke ’Em If You Got ’Em
By Silver Iocovozzi
You don’t need a smoker to make an impressive backyard-smoked chicken. Silver Iocovozzi of Neng Jr.’s shows us the way.
I grew up in the South eating a lot of smoked meat, which always meant huge barrel drum smokers and piles of wood. Later, in culinary school, I remember being introduced to the cold smoking cabinet, which is basically just a metal box that allows you to get smoke flavor into food without open flames in a commercial restaurant setting. I was like, how the hell does this work? I know a lot of cooking professionals use these devices, but it’s not for me. It ain’t barbecue if it ain’t cooked with fire and wood, honey.