Early stone fruit and a snappy vegetable
Just in
Apriums: In the last several years, designer crosses between plums and apricots have become progressively more popular. Later in the summer we will see the varieties variously called plumcots and pluots, which are closer to plums. Right now we’re getting apriums, which have some of the honeyed character of a great apricot, but whereas so many apricots tend to be dry and mealy, apriums are juicy. Flavor Delight, introduced in 1989, is the granddaddy of the bunch and is quite good. Flavor Anne and Honey Rich are too. These new fruits are especially valuable because the commercial varieties of apricots -- primarily Katy, Patterson and Castlebrite -- lack distinction. If you find freckled little Blenheim or Royal apricots (they’re pretty much the same variety), snap them up and remember what an apricot should taste like.
Burkart Farms, $4 a pound.
Peak season
Sugar snap peas: These are the kings of the edible-pod peas, a class that also includes flat snow peas. Sugar snaps are sweeter, crunchier and have more pea flavor than snow peas. All sugar snaps have at least one tough fibrous string running the length of the pea that should be removed before cooking.
Check carefully; some varieties have strings on both sides. Cook sugar snaps very briefly to preserve their flavor and crunch.
Several vendors, average $3 a pound.
Last chance
Oroblanco: These large citrus fruits are frequently called grapefruit, but in reality they are a cross between a grapefruit and a pummelo (those giant, head-sized citrus you see around the holidays). Introduced in the 1980s, Oroblanco has what many connoisseurs believe to be the perfect balance between sweetness and acidity, with a delicious piney quality similar to a great pink grapefruit. Especially this late in the season, choose these by their heft and by their smell. The peel tells you little -- ripe fruit can still have a trace of green in the color, and a scarred rind does not indicate any defects in flavor.
Several vendors, average $1 each.
-- Russ Parsons
