Frequenting our downtown Farmer’s Market in the summer is a savory affair, especially if you’re a tad hungry and in need of a jolt of energy, which is where bite-sized fruit samples come in. Enjoy the juicy blast of organic orange, strawberry, cherry, blueberry, plum, peach, or nectarine, and your taste buds will talk you into buying as much as you can afford.
I did just that and found myself ruminating on the exotic flavor of a nectarine over breakfast one morning.
The nectarine is a cross between a peach and a … and a …
I really didn’t know!
Come to find out that the nectarine first appeared on the peach tree as a bud sport ~ a fruit clearly differing from the rest of fruit on the plant, which can be grafted as a cultivar to grow new plants that retain this genetic difference. Something to think about for sure, especially if you consider yourself somewhat of a purist but prefer the taste of a smooth-skinned white nectarine to that of a fuzzy peach.
Botanists have traced the peach to China, as the tree is mentioned in Chinese writings dating back as far as the 10th century BCE. The nectarine first appears in English literature around 1600. Poet Andrew Marvell wrote about it in his idyllic poem, The Garden:
What wondrous life is this I lead!
Ripe apples drop about my head;
The luscious clusters of the vine
Upon my mouth do crush their wine;
The nectarine, and curious peach,
Into my hands themselves do reach;
Stumbling on melons, as I pass,
Ensnared with flowers, I fall on grass.
So my simple breakfast rumination ~ like all ruminations ~ opened a window of knowledge … and made eating nectarines a little bit sweeter.
