Peach Summer – Ontario Peaches are Here!

Last Wednesday, I was invited on a trip to Vineland organized by the Ontario Tender Fruit Producers (OTFP) and Faye Clack Communications, to find out more about local fruit. I and a smallish group of journalists (in whose company I felt rather honoured to be included, I must say!) were treated to a beautiful lunch created by Chef Mark Picone.

Each dish was inspired by Ontario peaches and plums, and accompanied by wines from nearby wineries Megalomaniac and Stratus. (The local-food kicker was that the Stratus Riesling, with its juicy Northern Spy apple flavour, was grown about five metres away from where we ate lunch!)

Most interesting to me was a discussion with Len Troup of the Ontario Tender Fruit Producers, a third-generation fruit farmer who runs Jordan Station's Lakelee Orchards. Apart from a lot of very interesting lore about peach varieties (I'm such a fruit geek!), he said he's "quite proud to be able to keep a family operation growing. It's never been tougher than it is today," he added, "because the world is your competition. We have to create a business environment in which young farmers can succeed. I don't want to be the last generation on my farm."

We fruit-loving consumers can help, of course. Troup (who confesses to eating a sliced peach on vanilla ice cream every single night) pointed out that the peach and plum harvest is not only ideal this year, but also two weeks ahead of schedule. For farmers, this is a mixed blessing. Since the closure of the CanGro canning plant in Niagara, fruit farmers are relying on home consumers to buy almost their entire crop. In this plentiful year, that means they have 10 to 12 million three-litre baskets to sell in only ten weeks, about 2 to 3 million more than last year. Pictured left: Chef Picone and his team, doing their part to make the most of local fruit in its prime.

Also, because shoppers tend to treat them roughly when picking them over at the grocery store, a lot of tender fruits are wasted. (With sweet cherries, a horrifying average of 30% of the Ontario crop goes to waste each year!) To address this issue, the OTFP has introduced a new package for local peaches, which will be available only at Loblaws this year, but which may end up replacing the traditional paper baskets altogether over the next few years.

It's a recyclable clear plastic clamshell basket with a lid and a handle (Len Troup is holding it in the picture at right). Shoppers are able to see all the contents, and the lid acts as a psychological barrier to touching the fruit – which is a good thing from the perspective of hygiene. It holds about one pound less than the paper baskets.

About a week after Labour Day, Troup predicts, all the peaches and plums will be off the trees, so those of us who love local fruit should move fast to enjoy them now. Here are some suggestions for making the most of the harvest.

Ontario Peach Recipes

This is the light and lovely Mark Picone menu to which we were treated. Jealous? The recipes are all available online!

• Ontario Peach Mojitos (pictured)
• Plum'ilicious (a sparkling wine cocktail)
• Ontario Nectarine Salad with Minted Chili Dressing
• Ontario Peach Risotto with Zesty Lemon Scallops (served with Stratus "Charles Baker" Riesling 2008)
• Ontario Peach and Brie Stuffed Chicken Breast (Served with the peppery, leathery, licourice-flavoured Megalomaniac "SonoFaBitch" Pinot Noir 2007)
• Buttered Crepes with Caramel Ontario Peaches (made in this case with local Red Fife flour and served with Megalomaniac "Coldhearted" Riesling Icewine 2007, which is surprisingly un-syrupy and redolent of pineapples and possibly mangoes)

Tip: If peaches have a stem, they've been picked before they were fully ripe.

The Ontario Fruit Producers have developed lots of other recipes for Ontario fruit, featuring peaches, pears, plums, grapes and cherries. Meanwhile, here's one of my own recipes to save the taste of the season for savouring sometime in the cold winter months.

Sarah's Lavender Peach Preserve with Kirsch

Fills six 500-mL (quart) jars

If you prefer, you can increase the sugar content of the syrup as high as half-and-half sugar to water, or reduce it to none at all. Be aware, though, that fruit canned without sugar will look browner in the jar and will develop mold more quickly when you open it. You could also use apple or white grape juice instead of a syrup, which would be a good choice if you simply want to put up fruit for family consumption; if you were canning for young children, of course, you would leave out the alcohol and maybe even the lavender as well.

• To keep fruit from browning while you work: In a large bowl, mix 8 cups of water with either ½ cup of lemon juice or three 500-mL Vitamin C tablets. Immerse cut fruit under the water until you're ready to put it in the jars.

Ingredients

• 30 or so medium peaches (about tennis ball size)
• 1¾ cups of sugar
• 4 cups of water plus extra for blanching peaches
• ¾ cup kirsch
• ¾ cup of very fragrant dried lavender (or, even better 12 to 24 flower stalks)

Instructions

1. Sterilize jars.
2. Meanwhile, dip peaches into boiling water just long enough that their skins slip off easily. Plunge them into cold water; when they cool, run a knife around the peach, following the natural seam. If you have a fully ripe freestone peach, you should be able to twist the knife and pop the peach in half while neatly removing the stone. Otherwise, you may want to quarter them and coax the stone out with a small paring knife.
3. In a non-reactive pot, combine the sugar and the 4 cups of water. Stir well until the sugar dissolves completely, and heat to the boiling point.
4. If you have been holding the peaches in water, strain them. Add the peaches to the syrup. Bring the pot back to the boil for about one minute, then turn off the heat.
5. Put 2 Tbsp of kirsch and 1 to 2 Tbsp of dried lavender or at least 2-3 flower stalks into each jar.
6. Fill jars with peaches and syrup to within ½ inch of the top (this is double the head space for jams or jellies). Run a plastic or wooden knife or chopstick around the inside of the jar to release trapped air bubbles. Top up the syrup if necessary.
7. Seal and process jars for 30 minutes at a full rolling boil.
8. Wait at least six to eight weeks before eating.

Serving suggestions: Use in crepes, on top of ice cream or in a bowl by themselves as a decadant dessert. A dollop of whipped cream would not go amiss with any of these combinations. Without the kirsch, they would be great with yogurt or on cereal, waffles or pancakes.