At this time of year Nature conspires with men to produce a contrariness in the flattened versions of some stoned fruit. A peach is a peach when it is suggestive; when its curves make one smile with greedy lust; when the sight of the soft fuzz on the peachy skin takes us sighing back to summers of our youth. It is hard to resist touching the shapely “jolies fesses” of the traditional peach; to gently press the warm flesh to confirm its readiness for the next step that will end with juice dribbling and finger licking. That is the peach moment; we have been inpeached. As with so many things libidinous the French language hits the spot – “j’ai la peche d’enfer” which literally translates as having the peach of hell, a truly wicked peach, a peach of a wicked peach but means, quite simply, “I’m feeling great…couldn’t be fucking better”…on a la peche. So, round sexy peaches are the business yet, sitting right next to them in the fruity seraglio are these little flattened, doughnutty dudes. Hard to take seriously but, as the song says “….never make a pretty woman your wife..” and one bite of this belle laide will put you straight. Flat peaches are dribbingly good: they have an intense peachiness that comes at the cost of not getting the wolf whistles but with the benefit of having admirers and addicts kneeling and begging for more. I am mad for flat peaches and I bought a whole tray of them for 2€; has there ever been a better purchase…apparently New York didn’t cost much but who wants a big apple when there is a bear market in flat peaches. The downside in bulk buying of ripe peaches in hot summer weather becomes almost instantly apparent…they’re not for the long haul so eat up.
Among the many benefits of the photography courses that I have run over the past few years is the quality of the food blogs of the alumnae. One of these is Emma at Fork and Pixel who is not only a wonderful cook but was also Highly Commended in the 2015 Pink Lady Food Photography Competition which is no mean achievement. Check out her delicious recipe for Peach Melba Squares. My version is Melba free as I had no raspberries but was still delicious….I still had to eat a lot of flat peaches so it is safe to say that “moi, j’ai la peche d’enfer”.
Food, Photography & France 
Peche d’enfer indeed! Peach skin reminds me of an attractive 20 something woman who used to let me stroke her velvet skirt when I was about 15. It was quite harmless, but a bit naughty and exciting at the same time. I think I need to go out and buy some peaches… 🙂
Ooh – sounds like a scene from a moody b&w French film!
🙂
Ha ha – some of it was definitely at the Minack Theatre – we were in the Taming of the Shrew. There were a lot of shooting stars at night 😉
sounds very thespian, lovey:)
OMG (as the young folk say) a really good friend of mine was very much into Am Dram and went to the Minack every summer with her company (Barnes and Richmond Operatic Society) – who knows, there may be a connection we have there!
I have to confess that I didn’t discover I liked opera until I saw Diva, which was probably 1982. That’s a shame really, because opera at the Minack, with shooting stars in the sky would have been quite amazing 🙂
🙂
you may well have trod the boards together, darlings:)
I think that must have been the start of something big, MD:)
Somehow I ended up with a completely different girl at the beach party on the final night 🙂
that’s the problem with throwing your car keys into the bowl..:)
ROFL – oddly it’s the sort of thing I’d expect from Chaucer rather than Shakespeare 🙂
🙂
Oh don’t tell me the Colonies adopted that rum ‘keys in the bowl’ thing from you lot!!!
I think we’re guilty:)
Perfectly peachy Roger – my niece calls them hamburger peaches as she thinks they look like little squashed burgers. They are not very appreciated where we are in Spain becuase a local village is famous for its “normal” ones. Personally, I prefer the flat ones!
They do taste more peachy…I’m convinced of that:)
Wonderful! I love “donut” peaches, but can’t tell you how many times some more “old-school” customers would comment to me at the market in France about how expensive these were compared to regular peaches!
I think the problem is that they’re very delicate, making them difficult to transport, and much quicker to start to rot.They’re much more available now than they were when we first came to France…and I love their eccentric appearance:)
Thanks for the mention Roger. Proud to be one of your alumni! I agree that doughnut peaches are far superior to regular peaches! Is Spain they are thought to be inferior and my Spanish friend shocked that I got so excited when I found them in the supermarket!
I’ve been hearing this about the Spanish…I think it’s a lot to do with tradition…which is nice as well:)
I think my co-op has these flattened peaches. I won’t pass by them again! 🙂
Good to hear…even the co-op:)
Beautiful image of peaches. Well done, Roger.
Cheers, Rosa:)
My father was a greengrocer and he always said doughnut peaches were far sweeter than ordinary peaches and even had a top note of vanilla. I wrote about Doughnut peaches in my July IMK (the ‘whats in my kitchen’ series by Celia at http://www.figjamandlimecordial.com that many food bloggers take part in). I bought doughnut nectarines today from Epsom market and they are delicious. Best wishes. Emma.
Glad to see that they are so available…I never saw them until after I had left England in 2001…and that top note of vanilla is spot on:)
Perfect peach and pith too Roger.
Cheers, Conor:)
I love how you describe the peachy feelings, to me it is the fragrant of a real ripe peach that gets me mad, possibly picked freshly from a peach tree. I lived in a place with a peach tree on our porch, I spent most of time on a ladder, picking them and eating them right away, summer’s heaven! Somehow I don’t have a big passion for the flat one’s, I just love the roundness of peach, it feels good to hold them in the palm of my hand. Have a peachy summer!
I think the alliteration of “possibly picking peaches from a peach tree on my porch” would have sold me on round peaches too:)
love the dappled light on the photo of the cake – and those flattened peaches – so hard to find down under
Thanks for that…we’re very lucky to have such dappled light in the garden…particularly under the olive trees:)
The French language is so loaded with innuendo. As for flat peaches, I have never seen them here, but I look forward to the peach season, and a dish like this.
You’re right about the French language…so many examples of innuendo:)
I too am addicted to these fiesty little feasts to the point they can’t be kept in my house more than a day before I devour them, I’ll try your recipe this weekend Merci 🙂
they are too tempting to resist…as is anything tempting:)