The taste of summer, stone fruits!
Around July, August and September stone fruit is at its best. And the possibilities with these sunny fruits are endless. Whether you combine it with vegetables, meat, fish or you serve it as an appetizer or dessert, these fruits always surprise.
Cherries, probably the most loved stone fruit; ‘the bonbon among fruits’.
It is an expensive and risky cultivation and it’s very important to protect the cherries from rain, hail and birds. The Dutch cherry season is short, so when there are Dutch cherrries: enjoy it to the fullest! The color of a cherry can vary from yellow to dark red. Blond cherries are yellow cherries with a red blush.
Most nectarines are slightly smaller than most of the peach species. The nectarine or nectarijn is a mutant of the peach with a smooth and shiny skin. Nectacots are a cross between apricots and nectarines. The nectacot is juicy with a specific aroma of nectarine and apricot.
Think about fresh apricots, an absolute feast to combine them in the right season.
The most tasty peaches are from France, where the cold nights create the sweet and juicy fruits. There are white-fleshed and yellow-fleshed peaches. The white-fleshed have a nice specific aroma that reminiscent of blueberries and raspberries. The vineyard peach, or Peche de Vigne, a totally different peach than we’re used to, in both appaerance and taste. This peach has red flesh, but is not that sweet. Very tasty though!
Wild peaches, also called donut peaches, are flat peaches with a sweeter taste than the round ones. The seed of the wild peach is comparatively very small.
The color palette of the plum is very diverse. The colors range from dark blue to red and from green to yellow. Plums from the Netherlands are highly regarded, the quality of the growing process is particularly high. They are very sweet and other species are pleasantly sour.
Do not keep stone fruits for to long and also don’t store them in the refrigerator. Keep them in a cool place, the best temperature is between 10 and 18 degrees. This way the taste and aroma will remain at its best. During the canicular days, around the period of July 19 to August 18, it is the best to process your stone fruit immediately or keep in the refrigerator. This time of the year, the will rot in time.
Gert Jan Zonneveld Piek
