Isn’t this the easiest time of the year to obey the nutritionists’ strictures to eat five fruits a day? The abundance of stonefruit, which can be eaten without any preparation, makes it effortless to answer “yesâ€, when the food police ask: “Are you getting enough?â€
All stonefruit is extremely perishable, which is why much of the national apricot and peach crop goes straight into cans. For eating fresh, the riper the fruit the better. Test for ripeness by sniffing for that peachy aroma and choose fruit that is yellow at the stem end and has a deep red blush. Nectarines, which are a variety of peach and not a nurseryman’s creation, will also be yellow at the stem end when ripe.
High colour is not necessarily an indication of ripeness in apricots. Often the palest ones are the juiciest and most flavourful – as instanced by the honeymurcots we sell, which taste much better than they look!
The skin colour of plums intensifies and darkens when they are ripe, and they lose their glossy appearance. Softness is not an indication of ripeness.
Keep stonefruit in the fridge only if it is completely ripe, and bring them out of the fridge for a few hours before you want to eat them for the fullest flavour. Fruit that is not quite ripe can be left in a bowl at room temperature, or a paper bag if you want to speed things up. And do not seal plastic bags storing stonefruit in the fridge – the fruit still needs to breathe.
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