Nectarines

As I said yesterday, and many times before, I am the world's worst gardener, but I have a friend who is the exact opposite and yesterday she pressed upon me a whole lot of nectarines. We tasted one and it was delicious, but, as she explained, the heavy rain we had had the day before had basically ruined lots of them - discolouring and bruising the skin, and so she had had to pick them. So now I have lots of nectarines which I must do something with before they are completely useless.

I could freeze them - well stew them and then freeze them - but I have a tendency to put things in the freezer and completely forget about them and so I think we shall eat some, I shall make a tart tomorrow and the rest I shall turn into jam this afternoon. I could also make chutney - which is easier actually, but we don't really eat chutney, so I will go for jam. I can do a small batch in the microwave - one of the really good things you can use a microwave for.

So nectarines - no they are not a cross between a peach and a plum or a peach and a plum and an apple. They are just a different kind of peach with a gene that switches off the fuzz of the peach. Now I didn't know that - but it makes sense because you get clingstone and freestone varieties of both and also white and yellow ones too. And would you believe the white ones taste better?

I must admit I went for the hybrid story for years, because I absolutely do not remember nectarines growing up. Not that I remember peaches in England, but I do remember peaches in France. They were a luxury item in England, but pretty common in France in the summer. We would buy them in the morning and have one for dessert at night. I even vaguely remember Robert Carrier talking about nectarines in his magazine column and saying they were a hybrid.

Nowadays they are available in equal quantities - bountifully in fact. Maggie Beer says they are her favourite stone fruit.

China grows most of the world's peaches - well they are probably consumed in China where the peach is held in the same symbolic regard as apples in the west. But that's peaches not nectarines.

I know nectarine jam is not really the thing, but it must be good mustn't it?