Apricots are one of the earliest summer fruits, its name comes from the Latin praecox which means precocious. They originate in the North East of China, very close to the Russian border. Prunus Armeniaca are descended from a wild Chinese variety and were cultivated more than 5,000 years ago. The Romans brought them to Europe around 70 BC. Nowadays, apricots are grown mainly in the South East of Spain and the rest of the Mediterranean countries. Apricots were first taken to England from Italy in 1542 by Henry VIII’s gardener, a French priest and horticultural expert called Jean Le Loup. By 1782 a Wigan nursery had published a catalogue with 14 varieties of apricots.
Dried or fresh, Alberoc, as they are known, were introduced by the sweet-toothed Arabs to Spain. At first they weren’t very popular because of the various superstitions that surrounded them. It was said, for instance, that if an apricot tree leaf fell on one’s back it would cause incurable diseases. Although these were grown for centuries it was only in the 19th century that production prospered and it became an international rather than a local market. In the 1970s Spain, in particular Mallorca, began to rival the production in Morocco and Tunisia, which had always dominated the market.
More apricots are grown in Murcia than anywhere else in
Spain, followed by the Balearics and Valencia. Apricots are one of the traditional
fruits of a Majorcan summer and are juicy, full of flavour
and have a memorable perfume. The best apricots are ripe but firm, with plenty
of colour and without blemishes. They can become overripe very quickly, so
never buy large quantities unless you are going to be using them immediately. As
a rule, those with the stronger brighter colours will be sweeter.
Unlike most market
fruits, the apricot is extremely fragile. It must be picked when completely
ripe, for it won’t ripen further after picking. Because the fruit doesn’t
travel well, it is found in the markets for only a short time. The bulk of the
commercial crop is conserved or dried. Majorca’s dried apricots, known as Orejones,
are more important to the local economy than the fresh ones. They are exported
all over the world. Majorcan dried apricots aren’t as sweet as the Turkish
varieties and because of that they have much more character. Their slightly
acidic taste makes them ideal for use in Middle Eastern lamb stews and tajines.
Spaniards usually prefer those from Turkey.
When the harvest is large, the women of the town, and
sometimes others from nearby villages, do a shift of 10 hours per day so the
fruit can be put through the drying process as soon as it is harvested. The
apricots chosen for drying are always those that have fallen to the ground. The
finest ones are collected in baskets and taken to the waiting army of women who
slice them in two, extract the pits and place them on big wicker frames or
trays, cut side up. The kernels in the pits are later sold for the making of
turrón, Spain’s traditional nougat that is an essential part of the Christmas
table. It is on sale all year long, but the vast majority of Spaniards eat it
only over the 12 days of Christmas.
The Arabs
introduced apricot's to Spain and their influence on Spanish cuisine is still
very obvious, you find apricots in Spanish meat and tapas dishes. Capirotada,
is a Majorcan rabbit dish for which apricots are cooked and then used in the
sauce. More than 100 years ago, Majorcan housewives added apricots preserved in
syrup to a greixonera of sopes mallorquines. And today, some Majorcans use
fresh apricots instead of olives to accompany a sopes during the summer months.
As so often happens in country cooking, one eats what is in season and
plentiful.
Spanish cooks and housewives like to preserve apricots, in a
thick syrup or in alcohol of some kind, usually brandy or aguardiente. Compotes
of all kinds are popular. Cooks are also fond of dipping fruit in batter and
frying it and there is an apricot version. In pastry shops, you will see that
when apricots are in season, they are used on the surfaces of ensaimadas
and on sweet cocas.
In 2019, February’s mild and sunny weather in Spain proved to
be catastrophic for the apricot trees, reducing the crop by around 75%. The year’s
gigantic plunge in the harvest means there will be fewer dried apricots. Which has
meant a rise in prices, already Spanish apricots cost more than Turkish ones. The
exceptional harvests from previous seasons also means the trees produce less
the following year. After a rather abundant 2019, at least in terms of
early-season varieties, the 2020 campaign will be marked by a substantial
fall in apricot production. We actually need to go back to 2003, or even 1998,
to find such a low production level. This bad news comes on the back of a 2019
apricot campaign which saw weak demand and poor prices in northern Europe.
This year they will be much rarer than usual. But I do hope
that this will only be a temporary setback for the precocious apricot and
one of my favourite summer fruits.
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