Habba sawda and black seed honey: a morning tradition

On waking, before the first drink of the day: a teaspoon of black seed honey (Nigella) set on the tongue. The gesture is one of the oldest in the Mediterranean, practised in the Nile Delta for three thousand years and handed down under the name habba sawda, the black seed. What you are giving your palate is not a habit: it is a thread stretched between ancient Egypt and a modern kitchen.

Black seed honey comes from the fertile plains of the Nile Delta, in northern Egypt. Black seed (Nigella sativa) has been grown there since ancient Egypt, and its flowering runs over four to six weeks between February and March. Traditional beekeepers set their hives beside the cultivated fields for that period. The practice is old and barely changed: clay hives, linen veils, a craft passed from father to son in step with the seasons.

The ritual comes down to three simple gestures, two minutes on waking.

First, before anything else. Set five grams, one teaspoon, of black seed honey on the tongue. No tea, no coffee first. A bare palate takes in the whole aroma profile.

Then let it melt. One to two minutes. That is the time it takes to make out the layers of the honey: the spiced attack, the caramelised body, the woody finish. It is also the time it takes to be present to what you are doing, the forgotten half of modern tasting.

Finally, warm water if you like. After the honey, some traditions suggest a glass of warm water, 35 to 40 degrees and never boiling, to draw out the aromatic finish.

To the eye, black seed honey runs from golden amber to mahogany brown. The texture is fluid to unctuous depending on the temperature. In the mouth the attack is spiced, with notes of toasted and caramelised dried fruit, and the finish is woody, long and persistent. It is one of the most distinctive honeys there is, and one of the hardest to forget once tasted.

Three distinct products often carry very similar names. Habba sawda is the seed itself, from the plant Nigella sativa. Black seed oil, habba sawda oil, is pressed from those seeds. Black seed honey is made by the bees from the flowers of the plant: it is nectar transformed, not an extraction. Three different uses, one way of naming the plant they come from.

Four signs: an origin documented to Egypt and the Nile Delta, a colour from golden amber to brown, the distinctive spiced and caramelised aroma profile, and pollen analyses confirming the single-flower character. To go further: our guide to authenticating black seed honey.

Egypt · Nile Delta

Egyptian Black Seed Honey 26,90 €

Genuine Nigella sativa from the Nile Delta, harvested in February and March. A spiced, caramelised profile with a woody finish. 250 g jar, signature presentation box and wooden spoon.

Take up the ritual

Going further

• How to recognise a genuine black seed honey
• Our three rare honeys compared
• The five great regions of rare honey
• The seven rarest honeys in the world