Still Longing After One Year
Today AAM posted an article from the LA Times about David Mas Masumoto, aka the most famous fruit farmer in the U.S. Freakingly, i mentioned his book epitath for a peach: four seasons on my family farm exactly one year ago and i'm sadly STILL longing to eat a Sun Crest peach! From the article:In truth, peach connoisseurs regard the Sun Crest variety when grown by most farmers as a very good, but not great peach. But variety is only part of the secret to great fruit; farming is not manufacturing. Grown under Masumoto's skillful hand, the Sun Crests are firm but juicy, almost meaty and with a high-toned acid backbone that nicely balances a powerful sweetness. It's no wonder they have such a cult reputation. But in spite of their quality, even Masumoto will acknowledge that his affection for these peaches isn't based just on flavor. Partly, it's family tradition. Mas loves his Sun Crests because he and his father planted them and because they are the peaches he grew up farming.
There's no way i'm flying to California twice a year to eat produce, so unless i move next to Berkeley Bowl i'm just gonna have to keep longing. At least we're still lucky enough in New York City to have access to some crazy corn, berries, apples and tomatoes, too!
PS: Check out this very interesting article (excerpted below) about the search for the perfect peach!
Peaches and nectarines picked before they are completely ripe will never ripen properly off the tree. ... Here's what happens as a peach ripens on the tree: It becomes sweeter and sweeter; its green chlorophyll fades, and the underlying red and golden hues assert themselves, both in the background color of the skin and in the flesh; its aroma becomes ethereal and inoxicating ... it softens, beginning with the shoulders (the plump flesh around the stem); it loses much of its acidity and astringency; and it becomes voluptuous and juicy.
When a peach is picked, everythig changes. It stays alive for days, even weeks under refrigeration - but in a wholly different way. Disconnected from its roots, it can take in no water. Separated from its leaves, it burns its own stored sugar for energy and never develops the full range and quantities of aromatic compounds. ... The one way in which a peach picked unripe does improve is by growing softer and more juicy as the pectin that glues the cells together begins to dissolve. It "ripens" into a weak-tasting, yielding, somewhat juicy, completely forgettable sphere.
... Everybody agrees that peaches and nectarines do not further develop their God-given sweetness and aroma once they are picked. The problem is that most peaches must be harvested unripe and very firm if they are to withstand mechanical picking, sorting, and packing, and at least a week of transportation to supermarkets across the country.
Even worse, if these peaches are refrigerated at temperatures between 36 and 45 degrees F for more than a week, their flesh becomes dry and flavorless and "woolly." Again, everybody knows that this sort of "chilling injury" can be avoided by intermittent warming - by bringing he fruit to room temperature every so often. ...
The absolutely worst peaches and nectarines are those pickes not only unripe but not even mature or fully grown. They will never soften. You can spot a mature peach by seeing whether the shoulders and the suture (the bulge along the line that runs from top to bottom) are fully filled out, and whether the background color of its skin has lost all tinges of green. Pay no attention to the red blush - some fine varieties never show it, and many others have been bred to turn red prematurely. The only purpose of this is to fool the public. ... No matter how hard and long you try to ripen an immature peach at home, it will always be tasteless, dry, and either mealy or spongy or rubbery. Then it will shrivel.
posted by beXn @ 11:56 AM
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