All About Peaches

Gourmandize

Made up of 87% water, peaches only contain 42-47 calories/3 ounces. They’re full of vitamin C and provitamin A, as well as minerals such as potassium. They’re delicious and highly aromatic, and originate from China, where peach flowers symbolize eternal youth. There are a myriad of different peach varieties, so don’t base your choice on just the color. Yellow peaches, white peaches, nectarines, heirloom and Donut peaches are all delicious types that must be tried.

See all of our delicious peach recipes here!

In Season: from June to September

How to pick it: hold the peach in the palm of your hand, and squeeze very delicately. If the peach is slightly soft and smells good, then it’s ripe for eating. If it’s hard and doesn’t have any smell, then you’d better put it back, since that means that it’s unripe, and peaches don’t continue to ripen once they’ve been picked.

How to eat it: You can peel a peach and then plunge it in boiling water for 30 seconds. You can also eat it raw, as is, in ice-cream, fruit salad, juice, smoothies or milkshakes. Peaches are also delicious when cooked, especially in a peach puree or tart. You can use peaches to garnish any dish with duck, rabbit or pork, although you shouldn’t add it to the meat until the last 8 minutes of cooking. Beyond that, it will become too mushy. Another idea is to quickly fry it in a pan with some butter to accompany veal or veal liver.

How to store it: Make sure to never put your peaches in the fridge! It’s better to leave it in a fruit bowl for 2-3 days before eating, although it generally tends to rot since they won’t ripen anymore. A great way to store many, very ripe peaches is to make jam out of them, or to freeze them in slices after having peeled and boiled them for 2 minutes in water with some lemon juice. This way they can keep up to 9 months in a freezer bag.

We like it with: If you’re serving peaches raw, in a fruit salad or on a tart, a soft, fruity wine or a pink champagne would go great. If the peaches are cooked and served with meat, try a French Bordeaux or a Cotes du Rhone.

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