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FoodFood InformationFruitDeciduous
Peaches date back to ancient China. They are drupes and are related toplums, nectarines, apricots, and almonds. They arrived in North Americavia Europe and the Middle East.
Our domestic peach season is from May to October. During the winter andearly spring months, from December to April, a limited supply of peachesare brought in from Chile. Unlike other Chilean fruit, such as grapes whichare very good, nectarines which are good, and plums which are fairly good,usually these imported peaches are not very tasty. Peaches are grown inmost states, but California and the South are the largest growing areas.Peaches are also grown commercially on a large scale in New Jersey, Pennsylvania,Michigan, Indiana, and Washington State. For the most part, the peachesproduced east of the Mississippi aren't quite as large as those grown inCalifornia, but the eastern fruit is usually more juicy. The hundreds ofvarieties of peaches can be divided into two groups: the clingstones, alsoknown as clings, and the freestones. In the freestone group are some varietiesthat aren't totally free and these are called semifrees. There is a greatdifference in the flavor, texture, and succulence of clingstone and freestonepeaches. Ninety-nine percent of the cling peaches are grown in Californiaand sold to canners who put up tinned peaches and fruit cocktail; nearlyall the freestone peaches are sold as fresh fruit.
If you have ever bitten into a fresh California cling peach, you'll understandwhy they are sold to the canners. They are hard, rubbery, and not very juicy.But cooking them in sugar syrup changes the undesirable texture and makesthem quite palatable. Some people object to the oil like texture of thesugar syrup in canned cling peaches, a thickness of the liquid caused bythe high natural pectin content of cling peaches. You can avoid this bypurchasing tinned freestones, which do not have nearly as much pectin. InItaly, cling peaches put up in wine are a great delicacy. In the fall, asmall amount of California cling peaches are shipped to market and soldin predominantly Italian neighborhoods for similar preparations.
Peaches come in two flesh colors: yellow and white. Not too long ago, abouthalf the peaches were white-fleshed, but, like the white nectarine, thewhite peach has been replaced by the newer golden-fleshed varieties. Backwhen we had lots of trolley cars but no jet planes, there were many finevarieties of white peaches. The older, white varieties-Georgia Belles,Carolina Belles, Dixie Belles, and especially Hiley Belles-werethe belles of the peach ball. What they lacked in color they more than madeup with a distinctive tart-sweet flavor. They were much juicier than theyellow-fleshed varieties and had a more delicate texture. To many old-timers,the Belles may be gone, but they are not forgotten. A limited supply ofa new white variety that is almost all red in skin is now being shippedto market. These command premium prices even though they are very fragileand easily bruised.
Today, as with nectarines and plums, there are countless new and improvedvarieties of peaches, and all of them are superior to the yellow fruit wehad in the good old days. The varieties are too numerous to list and mostof them are too close in appearance to call.
When comparing peaches of yesteryear to those of today, the most noticeabledifference is in the skin texture. Peaches of yore were as fuzzy as kiwifruit. Today's peaches are as slick as a baby's bottom. Peach fuzz couldnot be rinsed off under the cold-water tap. lt either had to be removedby peeling the fruit or it could be rubbed off with a damp cloth. Peoplewith sensitive skin would break out in a rash if they went near a peach.What happened to the fuzz? Do we now grow fuzzless varieties? No, today'speach is just as furry and fuzzy as the peach of yesteryear, but the fuzzis removed by mechanical brushing at the orchards prior to packaging andshipping.
The trick to selecting fine peaches is to look for firm, colorful, not bruisedfruit. If they are too green in color (called ground color in the producetrade), they may shrink, shrivel up, and not ripen properly. Allow firmpeaches a couple of days at room temperature to ripen properly. If you buyready to eat peaches, especially in a self-service market, they may be bruised.Very small peaches should be avoided because they may have been picked priorto reaching maturity. The medium-sized peaches are every bit as flavorfulas the larger and usually more costly fruit. The first peaches to arrivein spring are usually of below-par quality. They are undersized and overpriced.It is usually a good idea to wait until the month of June to start buyingpeaches and to stop in mid-September. By that time the fruit is coming outof storage, prices are higher than in mid-season, and the quality has startedto slip. However, from June 15 to September 15-enjoy.
WHEN TO BUY: At peak June, July, and August
WHAT TO LOOK FOR: Firm, colorful, not bruised fruit
HOW TO STORE: Ripen at room temperature; refrigerate when ready to eat
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