Get Cooking: Recipes for the versatile peach

Like the apricot and the plum, the peach is simply a drupe (or a effect with a ample magnitude of soma surrounding a stone-hard pit). It besides shares with them rank successful the household Rosaceae, the roseate family.

However, a peach is not a peach is not a peach is not a peach, to injure Gertrude Stein.

More than 300 antithetic varieties of peach turn successful the U.S. alone, portion implicit 2,000 turn globally. Six varieties represent conscionable implicit fractional of Colorado’s famed peach crop, a blessed assortment to spot aft the near-total dominance of the Elberta peach successful earlier years. (They are the O’Henry, Redhaven, Glohaven, Suncrest, Red Globe and Cresthaven. Sound similar subdivisions, no?)

Scientists person discovered peach endocarps (fossilized pits) dating backmost 2.5 cardinal years — preceding humans — successful the portion of Kunming, China, though wide cultivation determination dates backmost lone (!) to the 10th period B.C.

Despite its Chinese origins, the biologic sanction for the peach is prunus Persica, a notation to its Persian “origins,” which is simply a motion to the commercialized way that carried it from China on the Great Silk Road done Persia and connected to the West.

Producers and consumers some classify peaches by the colour of their skin, which varies done galore yellows, reds and oranges; by the colour of their flesh, again a wide scope that includes white; and by whether the chromatic is freestone, clingstone oregon semi-freestone — oregon however easy the soma separates from the chromatic — this second assortment progressively fashionable going into canning peaches, which represents the destiny of a afloat 30% of the U.S. crop.

Throughout history, the peach has been thought of loftily, its blossom adorning the hairsbreadth of brides successful some China and Japan arsenic a awesome of some virginity and fertility, a floral chapeau instrumentality if you deliberation astir it.

King François I of France (1515-1547) raised 40 antithetic varieties of peach and gave them human-like names specified arsenic Téton de Vénus (Breast of Venus) and Admirable. He considered the warm, soft, fuzzy knap of peach tegument to beryllium closest to that of quality skin, though I’m not definite that you’d privation to accidental that astir Venus’ breast.

Whereas the pear comes adjacent to the peach successful the enticing seductiveness of its fruity sweetness, Francois thought its glass-smooth tegument did not attack the allure of touching a peach. Indeed, an aged French nickname for the pear is cuisse-madame, the lady’s thigh.

In cooking, the peach is simply a workhorse successful saccharine oregon dessert dishes of each sorts. But it besides tin play a relation — and rather a delicious 1 — successful savory preparations, 2 of which I proviso you with here. We cooks substitute 1 effect oregon rootlike for different each the time, subbing successful a yellowish summertime squash for a zucchini, say, oregon an unripe pear for an apple.

The peach makes a splendid stand-in for the mango; cuisines different than our ain homegrown American 1 usage the mango successful savory preparations specified is the pilaf, a good basal for different savory foods atop it. And the guacamole salad, a chunky, deconstructed mentation of the pudding-like guacamole seen hereabouts. It’s delicious, particularly with immoderate just-ripe Colorado peaches.

Savory Peach Pilaf

Makes 6 cups. Serve this topped with a spicy dal oregon different “curried” crockery oregon arsenic a broadside crockery with thing you choose: meat, fish, rootlike and truthful on.

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoonful ghee, clarified food oregon neutral cooking oil
• 1 spoon achromatic mustard seeds
• 1 spoon garam masala (or yellowish curry powder)
• 1 medium-sized greenish oregon reddish chile pepper, vigor level your choice, seeded and minced
• 1/2 spoon turmeric powder
• 1 cupful basmati rice, rinsed precise well, soaked for 30 minutes, past drained
• 1 ample oregon 2 mean precise ripe peaches, peeled, seeded and crushed into pulp
• 1/2 cupful cashews, preferably unsalted and unroasted, soaked successful lukewarm h2o for 1/2 hour, past drained
• 1 cupful water

Directions

In a thick-bottomed Dutch oven oregon pot, vigor the abdominous implicit medium-high heat. Add the mustard seeds and erstwhile they commencement to sputter, adhd the garam masala (or curry powder), the minced chile capsicum and turmeric and disturbance good for 30 seconds until everything is fragrant.

Add the drained atom and disturbance until the grains are coated and statesman to instrumentality connected color, conscionable a mates of minutes astatine most. Add the crushed peaches, cashews and h2o and disturbance good again. Bring everything to a boil, little the vigor to simmering, screen tightly and navigator for 20 minutes (a fewer minutes much astatine higher elevation) without disturbing.

Turn disconnected the vigor and fto the pilaf basal for 10 minutes astatine slightest (with the lid of the cookware inactive on). Then assistance the lid and fluff the pilaf with the tines of a ample fork and serve.

Spicy Peach-accented Guacamole

A reminder that the afloat sanction of “guacamole” is “guacamole salad.” Makes 2 cups.

Ingredients

• 2 plum tomatoes, chopped
• 1 ample New Mexican Hatch oregon Colorado Pueblo chile, charred, peeled, seeded and chopped
• 2 mean avocados, pitted, soma chopped into 1/2-inch pieces
• 1/3 cupful scallion, achromatic and airy greenish parts only, finely chopped
• 3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice
• 1 ample ripe Colorado peach, peeled if desired, pitted and chopped
• 3/4 cupful cilantro, leaves and tender stems, chopped
• Salt to taste
• Tortilla chips

Directions

Assemble each ingredients successful a ample vessel and premix and fold. Let the flavors blend for 30 minutes earlier serving, chill oregon astatine country temperature. This is rough-hewn guacamole, not a puréed one. Serve successful tiny bowls oregon plates with tortilla chips to the side.