Peach Salsa

By phototex

The Peach Unleashed
Turn a fruit-stand staple into a sweet and flavorful summer salsa
Bob Blumer
Good Sam Club Highways
August 2008

For years, an urban myth has circulated among the culinary cognoscenti about Alice Waters, the revered chef widely credited as “the mother of California Cuisine.” The story has it that Alice took part in a collaborative dinner at which high-profile chefs were each delegated one course of the meal. As often happens at these events, the chefs dug deep into their respective bags of tricks and worked themselves into a collective frenzy to outdo each other.

When it came time for Alice to present dessert, she placed a whole, unadulterated peach on each plate. This was her manifesto: When you start with perfect ingredients, there’s little you can do to improve upon them.

Fortunately for us mere mortals, perfect peaches—luscious, fragrant and teeming with natural sweetness—practically jump into our laps as we travel down the back roads of North America in the late summer. They leap from roadside stands, farmers’ markets and grocery-store shelves.

After you’ve eaten your fill and wiped the sticky juice from your face, a few peaches remain, begging for love. Of course, you can whip up peach pie and peach jam, but do you really want to be slaving over a stove on a hot August day?

When I celebrate summer’s bounty of freshly picked peaches, I make salsa. It’s a perfect way to showcase the flavors, aromas and textures of stone fruit. It’s also quick, inexpensive and virtually foolproof. And a spoonful or two will elevate any simply grilled piece of fish, pork or chicken* into an alfresco meal that would make Alice proud.

Ingredients

• 4 ripe peaches (or apricots or plums), pitted, then diced into 1/4-inch cubes or sliced into very thin wedges
• 4 green onions, trimmed, then sliced thinly
• 8 mint leaves, coarsely chopped
• 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice
• 4 tablespoons red bell pepper (for color), finely chopped
• 1 jalapeño chili, seeds and membranes removed, minced, or your favorite chili salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Preparation

Step 1

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and mix thoroughly with a fork.

Notes: For a slight variation, add 2 teaspoons of freshly grated ginger and/or replace lime juice with rice vinegar.

If peaches aren’t fully ripe, add a sprinkle of sugar to taste. How do you know if a peach is ripe? The nose knows!

*For a simple summer meal, season fish, pork or chicken with salt or pepper, brush with olive oil and grill. Top with peach salsa just before serving.