Just looked at my favorite two sources for information. First, I checked in with food writer Harold McGee. His book, On Food and Cooking, is about the geekiest (and most fascinating) food reference around. Harold writes that Peaches were named after Persia (the name of Iran before 1935) and that when peaches ripen, they do it from along the stem end and the ripening travels along the groove…. interesting but not as groovy as what Wikipedia has to say (which is my next favorite place to get some inspiration). Here things get considerably less ‘geeky’. Wiki's Peach page lists everything from a Canadian musician named ‘Peaches’ to songs, to Peaches and Herb (my tangential groove reference), movies, porn and Pawn Stars!
Maybe we should get back to Harold and all things edible (this is a family blog after all)!
Peaches, Harold goes on to say, have flavor development after harvest. When you get a mealy one (meaning the flesh texture is squishy-nasty) from the supermarket, it’s because the fruit was temporarily stored at too low a temperature in transit.
What does this mean?! Buy peaches now while they are in season, and if you can, get them at the farmer’s market. You want fragrant peaches that are not hard or have a green cast. Also avoid ones that have spots, cracks or bruises. Buy what you can eat soon (not a problem around here)!
Peaches are a terrific source of potassium and iron. Groovy!
funny thing about peaches, though, they are so very tender and soft that it is hard for me to bite into them OR to cut them...what to do?
ReplyDeleteSharpen your knife... or teeth! Seriously,sounds a bit 'mealy'. We'll have to solve this together when we go to the Farmer's Market at Grand Army Plaza or Union Square!
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