Peach

Prunus persica · Stone fruit

6 varieties40 pairings

A peach is the fuzzy-skinned, single-stoned fruit of Prunus persica, a small deciduous tree of the rose family. Ripe, it is intensely sweet and fragrant, its golden-to-blushed flesh dripping with juice and perfumed with the coconut-creamy lactones that define "peachy." Eaten out of hand, grilled, poached, baked into cobblers and pressed into nectar and brandy, it is one of summer's signature fruits.

Picking a good onedrag

UnderripeOverripe

Just ripeFirm enough to slice clean and hold its shape: grilling, tarts, salads, and the best fresh-cut slices.Buy it

SkinGround turns cream to yellow

FleshGives a little at the shoulder

SmellFaint sweet note at the stem

StemCavity yellow, skin taut

Reading a just ripe one. Move the slider and the rest of this page — nutrition, pairings — re-scores with it.

What one gives you

96%

Usable yield

150 g · pit out, skin on

156 g

Typical weight

one specimen

Keeping ittap a band

A domestic fridge holds it about 4× longer than the counter.

Humidity

90-95%

Thin skin loses water fast — the stem end wrinkles. Crisper or a loosely closed bag.

Airflow

Open, single layer

Brown rot spreads through a touching pile: one layer, and pull any soft one out.

Gives it off, feels it

One ripe peach ripens the whole bowl, and a banana speeds them all up — keep both clear of lettuce, which spots brown, and broccoli, which yellows.

Preparing