Apricot

Believed to have originated in China, the apricot travelled westwards with the silk merchants and reached ancient Persia in first or second century bc. Fresh apricots are orange, sometimes tinged and dappled with pink and brown patches, and are sour-sweet and slightly floral in flavour. Sun-dried apricots retain and intensify the flavour. Organic dried apricots are brown in colour; the pretty orange ones have been treated with sulphur dioxide. They are part of the almond and cherry family. Apricots marry with cinnamon, cumin, cardamom, ginger, vanilla, almonds, pistachios, pine nuts, macadamias, peaches, pears, apples, cherries, bananas, rose, cream and chocolate.