I can’t leave the store without a few bags in hand.
Simply Recipes / Photo Illustration by Sarah Crowder / Getty Images by style
Years ago, long before I moved to California or even had the faintest idea that a life in California might be in my future, a friend pulled me into her kitchen, held out an inconspicuous plastic bag for my inspection, and said to me in a hushed, reverent tone, “Try one. They’re dried apricots. From California.”
To be polite, I took one. Honestly, dried apricots lived toward the bottom of my list of Things to Get Excited About, and I wasn’t quite sure what the fuss was about. Up to that point, the dried apricots I’d nibbled from holiday cheese boards and packets of trail mix were mild flavored, leathery, and distinctly “fine.”
But as I raised this apricot to my mouth and bit in, I instantly knew why my friend was practically hopping up and down in front of me. This apricot was different. Its flavor was intensely apricot-y, the fruity power of 1000 normal apricots condensed into one chewy nugget. It tasted simultaneously sweet and tart, evocative of Starburst candies and nearly as melt-in-your-mouth.
It was also deep orange in color—glorious-sunset-orange, fall-maple-leaf orange, inside-of-your-eyelids-on-a-summer-afternoon orange. Nothing at all like the pallid, washed-out dried apricots I’d known to that point. We stood in my friend’s kitchen and ate the whole bag.
I learned that these apricots are specifically Blenheim apricots, an heirloom variety that is primarily grown in California. They are known for their deep orange flesh, intense floral aroma, and complex sweet-tart flavor. Once dried, they tend to be flatter and more tender than other dried apricots, with a texture closer to fruit leather.
For many years, the only place you could find Blenheim apricots, either fresh or dried, was at farmers markets in California. Then you could get them via mail order from places like Apricot King, which is where my friend found hers.
And then just a few years back, I yelped with joy when I discovered that Trader Joe’s carried dried Blenheim apricots alongside their other beloved dried fruits and nuts.
You’ll find them in an unassuming clear plastic bag labeled “Extra Choice California Apricots” for $4.99. They don’t say Blenheim on the packaging, but I know in my fruit-loving heart that these are Blenheim apricots. There’s no mistaking that candy-like flavor, that melting texture, or that beautiful orange color.
I never leave Trader Joe’s without picking up a few more bags for my pantry.
These apricots cost just a little bit more per bag than their regular Turkish dried apricots, but friends, they are 100% worth every penny. I eat these dried apricots straight from the bag when I’m feeling snackish, I chop them up and mix them into granola, I top them with a schmears of goat cheese and Marcona almonds for an easy party appetizer, I bake them into cookies and sweet breads of all kinds. As a homebrewer, I have even used them to flavor batches of hefeweizen, cider, and kombucha.
I can’t say that I moved to California just for the apricots, but they certainly are a nice perk of living here. I’m very happy to know that if I do ever leave, I’ll be able to find a small, chewy, sweet-tart piece of Cali wherever I go.
Read the original article on Simply Recipes.
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