"First warm its continuous curve in cupped hands, holding it as you might a brandy snifter, then caress the velvety sheen with one thumb, and run your fingertips over its nap, which is shorter than peach fuzz, closer to chamois."
Diane Ackerman's sensual description in The Consolation of Apricots elevates the simple act of eating an apricot into an almost ritualistic experience... this is the vibe I'm going for here…
I was hesitant to write this article, knowing that I would get lost for days in the deep dive—researching, obsessing, and needing to build a pedestal for this fruit to stand proudly upon. But with the return of Mike Cirone's See Canyon Ranch to the farmers market tomorrow (spoiler alert: get there early!), I guess the time has come to start building. While the story of the Blenheim apricot will be my north star today, I will also give the other varieties their share of the spotlight. As Nigel Slater notes in RIPE, a "fine" apricot (differentiating it from store-bought blandness) is pure perfection with an intoxicating “scent that is part honey, part almond” —worthy of our relentless obsession for its brief, glorious season. “A fruit whose flesh has notes of peach, brown sugar, and orange blossom and an opportunity for pleasure that is too good to miss.” Within its velvet skin, it will glow a deep intense orange, as if lit by a candle flame”.
Most people are ambivalent about the glory of this fruit and usually have it dried, which is also excellent. But today, we pluck her, see her in her ripe form, and fall under her spell.
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