Apricots love the summer sun and reach their best flavor in Europe during these weeks. They are harvested in many countries. Fresh apricots come from the southern regions of France, whose names Rhône-Alpes, Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur and Languedoc-Roussillon immediately conjure up associations of mountains, sea and lots of flavor.

The optimum ripeness of apricots is not so much determined by the color of the apricots as by their scent. If the purchased apricots are not yet fragrant, they can be left to ripen for two or three days at room temperature. The fridge is not suitable for apricots.

All you really need with ripe apricots is good cheese (especially goat’s cheese, for example a Mothais sur Feudle, easily recognizable by its chestnut leaf) and a glass of white wine or rosé.

A chutney for the fall is quick to make

In season, it is worth buying more apricots and making a chutney from them. This only takes a little time, but preserves the wonderful apricot flavor until autumn and winter.

On cold, rainy days, all you need is a few slices of toasted white bread, a nice Camembert and the apricot chutney – and the apricot sun will shine again.

Chutney recipe

Ingredients

500 grams apricots

400 grams tomatoes

2 shallots

300 ml white wine vinegar

250 grams fine brown sugar

50 grams raisins

The zest of a natural lemon

1 teaspoon Maldon salt

2 teaspoons harissa or other roasted, smoked paprika paste

4 teaspoons honey

1 teaspoon ghee or butter

Preparation

Halve and stone the apricots. Remove the stalk from the tomatoes and cut the tomatoes into quarters. Cut the shallots into thin half moons.

Sauté the shallots lightly in ghee or butter. Add the apricots and tomatoes and sauté.

Add the white wine vinegar, sugar, raisins, lemon zest and salt and bring to the boil. Then simmer the mixture over a low heat for about an hour.

Then add the harissa bell pepper paste or another preparation of smoked paprika and the honey and simmer gently for a further 10 minutes.

Fill into jars that have been briefly boiled and thus sterilized, allow to cool, close and store in a dark, cool place until summer is over and enjoy when the rain lashes against the windows outside.

An excellent fruity alternative to cheese for those who don’t really like fig mustard.

The apricot kernel

Apricot kernels are used in some recipes in traditional apricot countries such as Armenia, Greece and Turkey.

Interestingly, apricot kernels are an important ingredient in the famous Amaretto Disaronno, which is immediately recognizable by its characteristic bottle designed by a glass artist from Venice.

The original recipe for the famous liqueur, which is still owned by a family business today, dates back to 1525. The apricot kernels give Amaretto Disaronno its characteristic marzipan-like taste, which is ideal for use in cakes or ice cream.

The spirit of the apricot

In Austria, the apricot is called apricot. There are famous apricot-growing regions in the Wachau from which excellent apricot jam is produced for all jam fans. This year’s harvest was somewhat smaller, as apricot trees can cope with the cold but not so well with wet conditions.

And that brings us to the subject of apricots in the delightful former k. u. k. Monarchy and the Hungarian Barack. The liqueur, how could it be otherwise, is made from apricots and their kernels.

The best of all worlds

Our article on apricots ends on a spiritual note, because our favorite distiller from Malente, Spiritus Rex, buys the apricots in the Austrian Wachau region and uses them to produce an excellent apricot liqueur that is completely free of artificial flavorings and colorings.

Its color is rather brownish, similar to the sulfurized dried apricots that perfectly round off any lamb stew. The decisive factor is the taste, and this is where apricot liqueur scores highly: in our opinion, it has the perfect, very restrained sweetness and gives a taste of summer and ripe apricots by the fireplace in winter.

This full-bodied drink will help you get through the spring until next summer.

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