We’ve been busy. The season has been about whipping up peach cobblers and crumbles; using the spoonfuls of crispy-sweet-sour-tarty goodness to offset the pall of the monsoon. Plum jam has been made, folded into a rava cake learnt during the pandemic. The cherries have been had whole, made into a compote for the panna cotta and used as toppings on the aforementioned cake.
We are now down to the last few peaches, and the seller tells me the season is already over. To be honest, it’s easy to miss the stone-fruit season altogether if you aren’t paying attention. We still have a dozen bookmarked recipes we were waiting to try, but all that’s on offer are some over-ripe or under-ripe green peaches. Did you know that Basho once published haikus under the name Tosei, or “Green Peach,” out of respect for the Chinese poet Li Po, whose name translates to “White Plum.” The literary connections and verses are just as wholesome as the fruits. Consider this by June Jordan:
plum blossoms plum jam
even the tree becomes something
more than a skeleton
longing for the sky
Someday soon, we might get to witness the blossoms. Try that peach and plum brioche. For now, there are simple tarts, made using the last of the produce, and a bowl full of plums for which we might have to end up writing a note like Mr Williams.
This Is Just To Say by William Carlos Williams
I have eaten
the plums
that were in
the icebox
and which
you were probably
saving
for breakfast
Forgive me
they were delicious
so sweet
and so cold
Recipe: Quick peach and plum tarts
Ingredients
Peaches
Plums
Castor Sugar
Lemon juice
Cream cheese
Vanilla essence
Method:
Whip the cream cheese with castor sugar and vanilla essence till smooth.
Cut thin slices of peaches and plums. Add a little sugar and lemon juice and keep it for at least 30 minutes.
Take out the puff pastry sheets. Make a border with a knife. Add cream cheese mix in the middle. Line the peach and plum slices one after the other.
Pre-heat the oven to 230 C. Grease the butter paper and place the puffs on it. Cook for about 30 minutes at 230 C. Let cool a little and enjoy.
A Thousand Mornings 