Stone Fleshy Fruits
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Donut Peach
The donut peach is juicy and sweet—many say the best tasting of all peaches. It has a creamy texture with a pit that does not cling. It is a peach wrapped in a nearly fuzzless skin. I want that peach! The donut peach The modern-day donut peach is the most ancient Chinese pan tao peach. […] More
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Apriums: Kitchen Basics
Apriums are juicy, sweet eating out of hand. An aprium is a hybrid fruit—¾ apricot and ¼ plum. The aprium is bright orange on the outside with just a hint of skin fuzz. Its bright orange flesh is dense and surrounds a stone similar to an apricot’s. The aprium is about the size of a […] More
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Rainer Sweet Cherry
Not all cherries are created cherry red. Ranier is a yellow and red skinned cherry that it is one of the sweetest cherries you will ever taste. There are two cherry varieties with patially yellow or golden skins: Rainer and Royal Ann. Royal Ann–sometimes called Napoleon–is golden yellow blushed with red. Rainer is a bit […] More
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Jujube: Kitchen Basics
The jujube is about the size of an olive or small date and has the texture and crisp, sprightly flavor of an apple. You can eat the jujube fresh out of hand or you can enjoy it dried—a favorite in China—or preserved in syrup—a favorite also in China and in Korea. The jujube can also […] More
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Fire Sweet and Fantasia: Two Nectarines
‘Fire Sweet’ and ‘Fantasia’ are two simply mouth-watering nectarines. ‘Fire Sweet’ is a medium-sized nectarine with a flaming red and yellow skin that is smoothly sweet. A grower at the Ferry Building farmer’s market in San Francisco handed me a slice of ‘Fire Sweet’ last Saturday and it was so candy-sweet that I simply could […] More
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Peach Varieties
There are more than 2,000 varieties of peaches. That’s a lot to choose from. There is no better way to pick a peach (and spend a day) than taste testing peaches at your local farmers market. There is a favorite peach taste for everybody. To find the best peach, first take a whiff: a ripe […] More
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Peaches: Kitchen Basics
Half a peach poached in syrup served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream topped with raspberry purée: peach Melba. Barely chilled peach slices served with sugar and cream: peach Mom. Auguste Escoffier—the most famous chef of his time–created peach Melba in 1892 in honor of the Australian opera singer Nellie Melba. Peach Mom has […] More
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Nectarine Varieties
Nectarines come to harvest in spring and continue through summer. If you get to know your nectarines and choose from early, midseason, and late harvest varieties, you can have fresh, local nectarines at your table for nearly half the year. The best way to select nectarines is to smell them and gently squeeze them. A […] More
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Nectarines: Kitchen Basics
Botanically speaking the nectarine is a variety of peach. But eaten out of hand or served at the table, the nectarine is both more and less than the peach. Less: the nectarine is smaller than the peach; it is about the size of a plump plum. More: the skin of the nectarine is fuzzless which […] More
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Apricot Varieties
The best place to start with apricots is sampling them fresh out of hand. Select apricots that are golden orange and plump, not too soft and not too hard. Apricots that are soft and ripe will have the best flavor. Give them the taste test immediately. Fresh apricots come to market from mid-spring to mid-summer, […] More
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Apricots: Kitchen Basics
There are two apricots you must simply eat out of hand: ‘Blenheim’ is a medium to large, sweet and aromatic, and very juicy apricot with a classic apricot flavor; ‘Moorpark’ is a large, sweet, aromatic, and juicy apricot with a rich plum-like taste. You will find dozens of varieties of just picked apricots to choose […] More
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Sweet Cherry Varieties
Sweet cherries are great for eating out of hand and using in fruits salads, compotes, custards, sorbets, ice cream, and yogurt. Fresh sweet cherries come to harvest from mid-spring to mid-summer, May through mid-July in the Northern Hemisphere. The sweet cherry harvest can be divided into early, mid-season and late. That means you can […] More
Stephen Albert