Peach Melba

This most famous of all Escoffier’s recipes is rarely made correctly; i.e., with fresh peaches, fresh raspberry purée, and homemade vanilla ice cream. A timbale is a highsided metal dish, often made of silver plate; the name comes from the Arabic at-thobal, the drum.

Choose tender peaches with flesh that does not adhere to the pit; plunge them briefly in boiling water, lift them out quickly with a slotted spoon and put them in water with ice cubes; peel them, set them