Ingredients · Fruit
Apricot
Prunus armeniaca · Rosaceae (rose family)
What it’s like, and how to use it
How to use it
In fruit infusions, where its acidity does real work. It rehydrates well and is worth eating from the pot. With peach, which it complements rather than duplicates — apricot is the sharper of the two.
With food
Almond, its close relative. Cream and custard. Lamb, in a tagine. Honey. Vanilla. Pistachio. Rosemary. Brandy.
With spices
Cardamom. Vanilla. Cinnamon. Saffron. Rose. Ginger.
With tea
Rooibos, black tea and oolong — all three of which this shop blends it with.
Its story
Where it comes from
Genetic studies place domestication in Central Asia and China, not Armenia, despite the species name armeniaca. Turkey dominates production with around 750,000 tonnes a year, about 20 per cent of a world total of 3.7 million tonnes in 2023, centred on Malatya. Our lot names no origin, and does not say whether it is sulphured — bright orange dried apricots usually are, brown ones usually are not.
What happened
The apricot's name is a chain of borrowings and its species name is a mistake. Armeniaca points at Armenia, where the fruit became deeply embedded culturally — but it did not originate there. The English word travelled the other way, through Arabic al-barqūq, the plums, and Byzantine Greek and Latin. The stone has a story of its own: apricot kernels are used in some traditions, and are not the same thing as the fruit.
On the shelf with it
Every product it goes into.
-
Apricot Peach
Regular price From $9.00 CADRegular price -
Apricot Peach, Rooibos, Organic
Regular price From $9.00 CADRegular price -
Apricot Peach, Black
Regular price From $8.00 CADRegular price
