Today is the longest day of the year, the summer solstice. The power of the sun to create life was revered in many ancient cultures and celebrated on the solstice. Here are some interesting food related facts about midsummer or solstice that I found on the website www.chiff.com:Pagans called the Midsummer moon the "Honey Moon" for the mead made from fermented honey that was part of wedding ceremonies performed at the Summer Solstice.
Ancient Pagans celebrated Midsummer with bonfires, when couples would leap through the flames, believing their crops would grow as high as the couples were able to jump.
Midsummer was thought to be a time of magic, when evil spirits were said to appear. To thwart them, Pagans often wore protective garlands of herbs and flowers. One of the most powerful of them was a plant called 'chase-devil', which is known today as St. John's Wort and still used by modern herbalists as a mood stabilizer.
If you are interested in learning more about seasonal eating and food traditions I have to recommend the book Full Moon Feasts: Food and the Hunger of Connection by Jessica Prentice. The chapter related to the current moon cycle is called the "Mead Moon" and discusses the use of honey to make fermented drinks in different cultures around the world, the use of alcohol in religious ceremonies, and some recipes (including one to make your own honey mead).
Summer Solstice
Source: http://almondbean.blogspot.com