Queensland’s Granite Belt, where we live, is three thousand feet up in the mountains. We enjoy a surprisingly temperate climate in an otherwise sub-tropical region. Over spring and summer, during warm days and cool nights, stone fruits reach a peak of flavour and ripeness that is difficult to comprehend for city dwellers who tend to be on the end of an eight day supply chain, ensuring they rarely get to eat tree-ripened fruit.

 

It begins with cherries in early November, then apricots in December, followed by a crescendo of plums, nectarines and peaches, their plumpness and fragrance carrying an insistent message to all beholders: eat me!

 

Right off the tree is a great way to do that. When, after days, your belly is full but still the fruit cometh, you get creative… dried, poached, glacéed, preserved, with Sauternes jelly, with cream, with ice cream, with cream and ice cream and Sauternes jelly, in a pie, on a biscuit.. Sigh! Hint: late spring/early summer is a great time to visit. 

 

A favourite recipe around here at that time of year is Auguste Escoffier’s Peach Melba. Ideally, the peaches used for this dish should be fully tree-ripened so that, when cut in half, the hemispheres come away from the stone and the skins peel easily and cleanly.

 

But first! Nellie Melba was the stage name of Dame Helen “Nellie” Porter Mitchell. She was persuaded to take the name by her voice tutor and mentor, Mathilde Marchesi, a woman who knew a thing or two about marketing. This was Paris, in 1886. Nellie's career transformed from singer to opera megastar. 

 

As explained in my recent Escoffier Blog, the celebrated chef served the initial rendition of his famous peach dessert to Nellie and, some years later when both artists were at the peak of their professional careers, he reimagined the dish and named it Peach Melba.     

 

Here’s the original Escoffier recipe, as described in his memoire:

 

“Pêche Melba is a simple dish made up of tender and very ripe peaches, vanilla ice cream, and a purée of sugared raspberry. Any variation on this recipe ruins the delicate balance of its taste.

 

"Choose 6 tender and perfectly ripe peaches. The Montreuil peach, for example, is perfect for this dessert. Blanch the peaches for 2 seconds in boiling water, remove them immediately with a slotted spoon, and place them in iced water for a few seconds. Peel them and place them on a plate, sprinkle them with a little sugar, and refrigerate them. Prepare a litre of very creamy vanilla ice cream and a purée of 250 grams of very fresh ripe raspberries crushed through a fine sieve and mixed with 150 grams of powdered sugar. Refrigerate.

 

To serve: Fill a silver timbale with the vanilla ice cream. Delicately place the peaches on top of the ice cream and cover with the raspberry purée. Optionally, during the almond season, one can add a few slivers of fresh almonds on top, but never use dried almonds.”

 

Don’t muck about with my creations, is the underlying message. But would a great chef really tell you everything? I happily have a bob each way on that and one day, I’ll tell you why. Meantime, in my view, a few nuts go very well with this dish, as does a little flaked coverture chocolate so I include them as optional extras.