Apricot Day

What the day is

Apricot Day is observed on January 9, which is nowhere near apricot season anywhere, so the dried fruit is the realistic way to mark it.

Origin and background

The name is a small piece of history. It reached English through Arabic from a late Latin word meaning early-ripening, because apricots come in well ahead of peaches and the other stone fruit they otherwise resemble. The botanical name credits Armenia, where the fruit was long cultivated, though the evidence points to origins further east in Central Asia and China.

The buying advice follows from the biology and is worth knowing. Apricots soften after picking but do not get any sweeter, because unlike some fruit they do not carry a starch reserve to convert into sugar once off the tree. A hard, pale apricot picked early for shipping will never become a good one. It will only become a soft bad one. Sugar has to be developed on the branch, which is why a locally grown apricot in season is a different fruit from the supermarket version and why so many people think they dislike apricots.

Dried apricots come in two colors and the difference confuses shoppers. Bright orange ones have been treated with sulfur dioxide, which preserves the color and the flavor. Untreated ones oxidize to a deep brown and taste more caramelized. Neither is a fault, though people sensitive to sulfites should take the brown ones.

One genuine safety matter. The kernel inside the stone contains a compound that releases cyanide when eaten, and food safety authorities warn against consuming more than a very small number of raw kernels in a day, with serious poisonings on record. They are also sold as an alternative cancer treatment, a claim with no supporting evidence and a well-documented history of harm.

How to take part

• Buy dried rather than fresh in January, and try both the orange and the brown.
• Cook them with something savory, where their acidity works against rich meat.
• In summer, buy apricots that are already fragrant and give slightly, or do not buy them.
• Poach slightly underripe fresh ones rather than eating them raw.
• Do not eat the kernels, and treat any product marketing them as medicine with suspicion.