Physical Description
Apricots are small, golden orange fruits, with velvety skin and flesh, not too juicy but definitely smooth and sweet.
Colors: Golden Orange
Tasting Notes
Food complements: Brandy
Substitutes: Dried peaches, Dried nectarines, Dried apples
Selecting and Buying
Choosing: Look for fruits with a rich orange color while avoiding those that are pale and yellow. Fruits should be slightly soft. If they are too firm they have not been tree-ripened, and tree-ripened fruits always taste best.
Buying: Most fresh apricots sold to market are picked when not quite mature and still firm to reduce shipping damage.Harvest season for apricots in the United States is from June to mid-August depending on variety and location, but dried apricots are available year-round.
Procuring: Apricot season in the U.S. runs from May through August. In the winter, apricots are imported from South America.
Preparation and Use
Apricots are enjoyed as a fresh fruit but also dried, cooked into pastry, and eaten as jam. The fruits are also distilled into brandy and liqueur. Essential oil from the pits is sold commercially as bitter almond oil.
Conserving and Storing
Sun-dried apricots will be a bit tougher than dehydrated. Dried apricots should be stored in the refrigerator. If stored at temperatures above 75 F., the fruit becomes hard, dark in color, and will lose nutrient value. Sealed bags can be stored no more than 1 month at room temperature, but up to 6 months in the refrigerator. If your dried apricots become too brittle, they can be softened by soaking in liquid or by steaming.
Social/Political
History: Apricots are originally from China but arrived in Europe via Armenia, which is why the scientific name is Prunus armenaica. The apricot tree came to Virginia in 1720 but its appearance in the Spanish missions of California around 1792 marked the fruit's real arrival. The climate there is perfectly suited to apricot culture, and apricots in the United States are grown primarily in the sunny orchards of California.
