It has occurred to me over the past few weeks that a) it is stonefruit season and b) many people don’t know about that classification and c) I’ve only ever written about peaches. Peaches! When there are nectarines and plums and apricots to have (cherries too.) And out of them all (with the exception of maraschino cherries, once) I’ve never written about any of them!
But, what is a stone fruit, you ask? The stone fruit is a group of fruits from the Prunus genus, and are closely related. The ones I’ve listed above I can find locally, although there are other fruits in this group (think mango.) Peaches, nectarines, plums, and apricots are high in vitamin A and C, and also have many antioxidants. (Peaches and nectarines are technically the same fruit, they just come in fuzzy and bare, so to speak.) They also have a bit of fiber to help with digestion, and are high in calcium!
Peaches originated in China, apricots in Armenia, and plums mostly came from Armenia, too. They spread the world and grow well in California (yes!) They grow on trees, and they’re in season usually from June to September.
I’ve taken to eating cut up stone fruit with my breakfast in place of the berries of earlier in the spring, and I’m loving it. Nectarines and peaches cut well, and usually I just eat plums straight (so juicy!). I plan on exploring the gamut, ranging from grilled fruit to sweets to soup.
Fun fact: did you know almonds are related to the stone fruit? Therefore, if you’re allergic to stone fruit you are ALSO allergic to almonds! Almonds are actually the “stone” of the almond fruit. In Italy, the stone (kernel) of apricots are sometimes used the same way almonds are!
What is your favorite stone fruit recipe? Which stone fruit is your favorite?
(Sorry Ky, I know this is not going to be your month.)
[addtoany] Yum