Can a Fruit be Angelic?

Recently, Food Gal posted pictures of these beautiful apricots and said we should rush out the door to buy them while they’re in season. And since I always like to be compliant (not), I went to my nearby Trader Joe’s in a hurried but not necessarily rush-like state.

Luckily, there was a whole counter of these yellow apricots still for purchase. They’re marketed as “Saintly” Angelcots, and they’re the creation of a Brentwood farmer who worked with Moroccan white apricot seeds until he got this pale yellow version that he named Angelcots. (Produced by FA Maggiore & Sons.)

I have to say I don’t typically eat fresh apricots, preferring the intense flavors of the dried apricots instead. I always found the flesh of a fresh apricot to have an odd meaty texture, although I do love their velvet exterior.

The Angelcots were similarly velvety, like pussy willows. And some had a beautiful blush color from the California sun. When I ate them, it was way more juicy than a typical apricot and the flesh was more like a nectarine. The sweetness is perfume-like, and I can begin to appreciate when people say they use fruits to sweeten food because these Angelcots can definitely be used as a sweetener. (Although they’re not super sweet, they can hold their own.)

While they’re not a revelation like my discovery last year of the Flavor King, the Angelcots are a nice surprise and may get me started on eating apricots again.