If anyone asks me what my favorite fruit is, I would have to say Peaches. In fact, just call me Peachie Gal!

 Peaches originated from China and they have nearly 4000 years of cultivation. In 1980s, a Chinese fruit survey team found a peach tree in Tibet that had a 30 foot circumference, was 65 feet tall, and was estimated to be 1000 years old ! Amazing stuff !! One can only wonder what the fruit from that tree would taste like !

 According to the Chinese culture, a peach is given as a birthday gift to the elderly, to wish them a long life. In fact, one of the classic Chinese literatures, Journey to the West (西游记) also features the peach fruit, where the monkey god visits the peach garden of the heavenly queen mother and eats the peaches of immortality.

Since then, the peach fruit has spread from its homeland in China to the western world. Peaches were introduced into Europe when Columbus brought the peach seeds to the new world on his 2nd and 3rd trip.  Eventually the peach seeds found its way to Georgia, USA, and were widely cultivated there. Georgia eventually became known as the Peach County of USA.

Out of the hundreds of varieties of peaches, each can be classified as clingstone, freestone, or semi-freestone, depending on how firmly the flesh attaches to the pit.

Here are some varieties of peaches that I have tried:

Honey Peach (水密桃)

This is my favorite peach variety. The Honey peach is generally cultivated in North China. It is a clingstone variety and is characterized by its firm white flesh, crunchy and juicy taste.

Recently my uncle came back from his work stint in Shanghai and brought back 4 of the famous Long Hua Honey peach for my mom, for my birthday. This peach is one of the best species found in China. It was originally produced only in areas around the Long Hua temple, hence its name. However now, the growing area has expanded. There are 2 varieties to this peach, one is round and the other is flat. The one that my uncle brought back for me has a thin skin, fine flesh, a fragrant aroma and a sweet juicy taste. This fruit is in season from July through August. So I was lucky to get a taste of the last fruits of the season this year.

I especially love the crunchy texture of the fruit when you bite into it. It’s like eating an apple, except so much more fragrant.

Donut Peach

The Donut peach is a variety of white peach that originated from Asia as well. Its name was derived from the appearance, which looks like a cake donut. It is approximately 1 to 2 inches in height and 2 to 3 inches in diameter.

I saw it in the supermarket one day and decided to give this funny looking fruit a try. The flesh is not as crunchy as the Honey Peach but its still firm. The outer skin has a pale yellow and red color that covers a white inner flesh that is tender, juicy, and sweet tasting, similar to a nectarine. It also has a low acid to sugar ratio, so its flesh is relatively sweet.

Red Haven Peach

Red Haven is a variety of peach that grows from the United Status of America. It belongs to the freestone variety of Peaches and is the most commonly grown peach tree in the US. I remembered my first experience eating this peach. It was when I was in the US, at a U-Pick fruit farm. Once I found my ideal fruit tree which yield a relatively sweet fruit, I just sat under it and ate and ate fruit after fruit from the same tree ! Perhaps they should have called the farm U-Eat, rather than U-Pick. In fact, I though they made the wrong choice of weighing the basket when I left the farm. They should have weighed me instead ! The Red Haven peach tree produces a medium to large firm flavorful sweet reddish yellow fruit. The flesh is firm, yellow and fine grained.

All in all, I like most variety of peaches, with a preference towards the firm flesh variety, as I am a little  squeamish about soft flesh fruits. But there are different camps to this taste preferance, so I am always opened to try more variety of peaches when I come across new ones !

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