Fresh Apricots

It’s Zippy Tip Tuesday!

As I mentioned in my post for Strawberry Apricot Swirl Ice Cream last week, some beautiful golden apricots caught my eye at the store, and I just had to use them.  They made such an incredibly bright complement (both in color and flavor) to the sweet fresh berries.  But I realized that I rarely use fresh apricots when cooking.

It turns out that I am not alone.

Since apricots don’t travel well, they are picked prematurely to survive the trip.  So the majority of the crop is dried, with only 1/4 of the harvest shipped in its fresh form to markets.   I was surprised to read that canned apricots are actually more flavorful than fresh, because the fruit is ripe when picked before canning (source:  About.com).  Other than that, it basically works the same as its cousin, the peach, fitting well in both savory and sweet applications.  Apricots pair nicely with poultry, lamb, nuts and rice, and spices such as cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg.

That just left me with one aching question:  how do you pronounce the darn thing?  Is it “app-ricot” or “ape-ricot”?  From what I understand, it kind of depends on the region from which you hail.

So where are you from, and how do you pronounce “apricot”?

To know more about apricots, watch video here:

Can’t see video?  Watch it here:  Fresh Apricots

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