Peach-O-Rama

Apparently it is Peach-O-Rama time here in Seattle. What does this mean? Well, the peaches are quite good, so that's fun. Plus, there is some sort of new/fake metric that determines exactly how sweet the peaches are. The "Brix" rating is technically a measure of the specific gravity of a sucrose solution, but apparently it is also seen as the best way to measure whether a peach is going to be any good.

When my folks were in town I had some peaches that were 13-14 on the Brix scale, and they were very good. Today I had one that measured 14.5, and it was phenomenal. The little stand at my market states that some peaches can reach 18-19, and are "transcendental" in flavor. Given that both peaches I've had recently were WAY better than earlier peaches discussed in this blog I can attest that an 18 Brix peach would just be unspeakably good. So if you find one, peel it, and then eat it.

The nectarines are also really, really good

For the record, I don't peel a nectarine. Only a peach.

Naked peaches

I'm now making pretty regular trips to Pike Place Market to get produce on the weekends. Its relatively inexpensive and now that I've found the best vendors the quality is just incredible. I'd been focusing on cherries, mushrooms, and apples until two weeks ago when Huan informed me that the peaches were pretty good. I feel like I have a fairly refined palate when it comes to peaches; my family would often be in South Carolina during prime peach season when I was growing up, and even though Georgia might be known as the Peach State, South Carolina more than holds its own.

So when the guy hawking peaches last week claimed that these were the best peaches anyone had ever had, I told him that I had had a couple of good peaches in my day. He cut a slice off his sample peach and told me that my order would be free if I could look him in the face and tell him it wasn't the best peach I had ever had.

I paid for my peaches.

Sadly, the State of Washington seems to be home to peach fuzz eaters. Again, I feel as if I come from peach country, and I can't seem to remember anyone eating a fuzzy peach. Peaches, like oranges and kiwis and bananas, are meant to be peeled. To this day it freaks me out when I see someone just grab a peach and go to town. Maybe this is one of those things where I'm a freak (since nearly everyone I talk to seems to eat fuzzy peaches), but if so, I'm a freak on a terrific moral high ground.

Peel your peaches. Please. At least in front of me.