pêche

Peaches have been grown in France since the 6th century AD and are one of the stars of July and August, when big juicy ones appear at the market.

Kinds of peaches

In the supermarché your basic choice will be between peaches with white flesh (pêches blanches) or yellow (pêches jaunes).

Pêche de vigne or pêche sanguine: these ripen in September at the same time as grapes, hence their name; they have a pretty reddish tint to their flesh. The trees were commonly planted around vineyards the way roses are today, like canaries in a coal mine, as diseases often appear on them first.

Pêche plate: flat or ‘doughnut’ peaches. Native to China, but now grown in France.

Nectarines (same word as in English) are yellow inside their smooth peels and have a stone that is easily to disengage.