Friday, January 13, 2012

Peaches


OK, it's another food post, but just a quick one.  Essentially a large tin of peaches, with the stones in to boot.  But what a difference a jar makes, so that they become golden, luminous globes of voluptuous loveliness.  I  bought them for their beauty as they were reduced after Christmas; I'm not even sure I like tinned peaches all that much, though when we were kids we thought them a sublime treat, so maybe they'll bring about a Proustian moment.  They don't have to be eaten till 2016 anyway.  

14 comments:

J Cosmo Newbery said...

They look fabulous!

rr said...

I hear the word "brandy".... (or any other strong spirit, probably...)

Anonymous said...

Jarred peaches were one of the great treats of my childhood. Lined up on the shelves of my grandmother's basement pantry, along with jarred pears and plums and berries and melon. . . you've brought me back to those simple days. XO
- alison

Roderick Robinson said...

Tried to read the text on the paper used to seal the jar. Couldn't. Spent time trying to figure what it might be given that it's symmetrically positioned within the circle described by the jar top. Couldn't?
Wondered about "I'm not even sure I like tinned peaches" and whether I should send you a helpful prayer to resolve this. Retired baffled.

Lucy, you don't just provide conventional entertainment.

zephyr said...

i used to bottle peaches every August (and it always ended up being the most sultry week of the summer)and love eating them right about now. but now that i can purchase beautiful ones--in a very light syrup, like i used--i relax in August and simply eat as many fabulously ripe ones as possible!

Lesley said...

The girls at boarding school in Enid Blyton books used to go mad formidnight feasts featuring tinned peaches too. I found that a little bewildering.

Zhoen said...

I've seen apricots presented this way, but never peaches. Loved the tinned ones in the winter as a kid, but I was so hungry for fruit of any kind.

Very appealing.

Catalyst said...

Hmmm, 2016? That might make some pretty good drinkin' by that time. (Hic!)

Roderick Robinson said...

Peaches. Oh, bought not made. The fascination departs. But can tins be made of glass? Cans can in the USA.

Pam said...

Dear me, they look a bit rude, don't they? Like bottoms. Or is that just me? Lovely bottoms, though.

I read somewhere that David Cameron's face looks like half a bottom and I can never see a picture of him without remembering this.

Sorry to lower the tone...

The Crow said...

Your photos bring back memories of my mother's pickled peaches, made with slightly underripe fruit in a sweet pickle syrup, with cloves and other spices.

Then, in winter, we would have pickled peach pie, with dumplings layered between crusts. The syrup was soaked up by the dumplings and thickened the filling ever so slightly. Drizzled with heavy cream, the pie transcended its humble beginnings to become spicy-tart ambrosia.

Oh, dear...I'm drooling.

herhimnbryn said...

Jars of sunshine!

Lucy said...

Thanks all.

Alison - 'jarred' now there's a nice participle/adjective, though only in this context, not in the sense of one's nerves or teeth!

Lesley - well, they were just such a post-war thing, weren't they? And I suppose they were a bit slippery and sexy for the denizens of Mallory Towers. Surely tinned fruit was also appreciated out in the wild Hebrides though? ;~)

Lorenzo(1 & 2)- yes bought, that's why there's a bar code on the top! :~) However, I did have a view to using the jar for something else, eg sloe gin or real fruit in brandy afterwards, as it is a good big one! What I meant was the product is exactly the same as tinned peaches. French do more fruit and veg in glass because they are a bit leery about tins going bad, there must have been a scare once. Tinned soup is almost unknown. No great loss you may say, but I do fancy the occasional tin of Royal Game or Cream of Chicken. There are ways and means of procuring these.

Zhoen - sad to say we liked them because they were sweet and bland and quite unlike the real thing! My tastes did grow up though.

Isabelle - tee hee! Yes indeed, I shall see that myself from now on, something to do with chubbiness and curvature. I remember my brother saying Michael Portillo's face reminded him of someone's private parts. Actually I think Portillo's face - along with his general character and attitude - became much less obnoxious and more acceptable when he was humbled and eschewed politics altogether, so perhaps even DCs fizzog might resume normal planes and angles and become less bumlike if he changed his career, you never know. They say we finish up with the face we deserve by a certain age, which is rather depressing for some of us but may contain a grain of truth...

I always thought peaches looked like bottoms, I suppose everyone does at some point in their life.

earlybird said...

I guess how good they are depends on the quality/sweetness of the syrup. Maybe a tart or glorious delicious, blowsy peach melba?