When T. S. Eliot wondered if he dare to eat a peach, he did not live in SC and it was not June. I know this because, no matter how off your digestive system is, a fully ripe SC peach is worth it.
To enjoy a fully ripe SC peach is a full-sensory experience.
It starts with the color of the peach: creamy yellow to dark orangy-red with what the fashion industry calls peach in the middle. The peach is not a ball; it is off-center, with a ridge along the edge and a pointy end that is almost erotic. Well, Georgia O'Keeffe should have painted peaches.. that's all I'm saying.
And then, you pick it up and feel the soft, slightly fuzzy skin. It's fuzzy like soft velvet, not like bunny slippers. It's soft but firm --- if it's soft and mushy, make ice cream. It will still be good.
Next, put the peach to your nose and inhale gently. If you think you might faint from the joy of it, it's ready to eat. Although I've never been asked to leave the produce department while choosing peaches, I have gotten some looks. And more than one person has said, "I'll have what she's having."
It is now time to eat the peach. You can cut it up, mix it with other fruit, make peach cobbler or peach pie or peach ice cream.
Or you can stand over the sink (this is important) and bite into it. The soft inner fruit melt into your mouth in shades of yellow, orange and red. The sweetness explodes, the juices flow, the world is a better place.
Rinse, repeat, until you understand what T. S. Eliot was worried about, but you think, "Man, that was worth it."
1 comment:
oh yeah.. peaches are a gift from heaven... the angels revel when we eat peaches!!!! one of my favorite pcitures of msyelf as a little girl is picking the first ripe peach of the season with my great-grandfather when i was 2, and he in his early 70's roughly the age my mom is now.
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