I first made these for a party, where the entire bowl was devoured in less than 10 minutes. It is a wonderful and refreshing way to enjoy these summer jewels.
The recipe was inspired by a recipe I found in Claudia Roden’s classic cookbook, The Food of Spain. As I was flipping through it, supposedly looking for information about making paella, my eyes were drawn to a heading in the dessert section that included the word peach, not least because it was shortly followed by the word wine.
At this time, the peach tree growing by the garage door was dripping with ripe peaches and I was scrambling to find way to put them to good use before it was too late. Roden’s recipe was even more attractive for the fact that it included only two ingredients, and although my own version has increased this number to five, it remains a very simple dessert that can reasonably be accomplished in the midst of busy dinner preparations, like, say, for a seafood paella, gazpacho and a dish of sautéed mushrooms.
A quarter of this year’s harvest. Pretty impressive for a little peach tree.
In the original recipe, the peaches are macerated in Moscatel, a sweet dessert wine from Spain made with Muscat of Alexandria grapes. I could not find a suitable sweet wine within my price range, so I opted for a bottle of albariño, a dry but acidic white wine from Spain, and made a honey-based simple syrup to make up for the lack of sweetness. While I was at it, on a whim, I threw in some tarragon from my garden and a few slices of ginger. This turned out to be a very, very good idea.
The wine really intensifies the flavour of the peaches, and the ginger and tarragon syrup make the dish not only sweet (and alcoholic!) but also complex and subtly spicy.
Joëlle
Serves 8-10
A simple but divine summer dessert to celebrate peach season. The wine really intensifies the flavour of the peaches, and the ginger and tarragon syrup make the dish not only sweet (and alcoholic!) but also complex and subtly spicy.
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Ingredients
- 10 peaches
- 2 cups albariño (or other dry white wine)
- 2 tbsp honey
- 2 tbsp water
- 2 tbsp thinly sliced ginger
- 2 tsp chopped tarragon
Instructions
- Place honey, water and ginger slices in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Once it starts to bubble, remove from heat, throw in tarragon and cover with a lid for 10 minutes.
- Strain the honey syrup and discard the solids. Let the syrup cool further while you prepare the peaches.
- To make peeling easier, dip the peaches in boiling water for 30-60 seconds. Set them aside to cool. Once the skin is cool to the touch, you should be able to remove it easily with your fingers.
- Cut the peaches into quarters, removing the pit and the bitter part around the stem.
- Place the quartered peaches in a large bowl. Mix together the wine and syrup and pour it over the peaches. Cover and refrigerate for 2-3 hours.
- Serve cold, in wine glasses or dessert bowls.
References
Roden, C. (2012). The Food of Spain. London: Michael Joseph.
