The oyster mushroom gets its name from its cap which, some say, resembles an oyster. The stem of the oyster mushrooms is perhaps more distinct; it unfurls something like one of those old-time paper lady's fans. The oyster mushroom has...

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Fire Sweet and Fantasia: Two Nectarines

‘Fire Sweet’ and ‘Fantasia’ are two simply mouth-watering nectarines.

‘Fire Sweet’ is a medium-sized nectarine with a flaming red and yellow skin that is smoothly sweet. A grower at the Ferry Building farmer’s market in San Francisco handed me a slice of ‘Fire Sweet’ last Saturday and it was so candy-sweet that I simply could not move before finishing off the whole fruit. I let each bite take a minute to settle in.

‘Fantasia’ is a slightly larger nectarine than ‘Fire Sweet’ with a bright red over yellow skin and yellow, firm, smooth flesh. ‘Fantasia’ is just a tiny bit acidic with a sweet-tart flavor that is mouth filling. I waited an hour after tasting ‘Fire Sweet’ before biting into ‘Fantasia.’ The wait was worth it. For a moment, I thought ‘Fantasia’ was the only nectarine I had tasted that day. It’s smooth and zippy.

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Nectarine Varieties

Nectarines come to harvest in spring and continue through summer. If you get to know your nectarines and choose from early, midseason, and late harvest varieties, you can have fresh, local nectarines at your table for nearly half the year.

The best way to select nectarines is to smell them and gently squeeze them. A nectarine ready for eating out of hand will be fragrant and not too hard. A ripe nectarine will give to gentle pressure at its seam.

Stay away from greenish colored nectarines or those that are too hard, cracked, bruised, or have blemishes.

There are hundreds of varieties of nectarines. Here are descriptions of several nectarines you might want to try and a note on when they come to harvest:

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Nectarines

Botanically speaking the nectarine is a variety of peach. But eaten out of hand or served at the table, the nectarine is both more and less than the peach.

Less: the nectarine is smaller than the peach; it is about the size of a plump plum.

More: the skin of the nectarine is fuzzless which makes it more toothsome than the peach. At the same time, the nectarine’s firm flesh—though succulent—holds together better than a peach when bitten into or sliced. (The term peach and nectarine lovers use for a fruit that disintegrates at your lips is “melting.” The peach is more melting than the nectarine.)

Yes, these are slight differences.

The truth is that the nectarine and peach are interchangeable when it comes to recipes and cookery. Personal taste has a lot to do with which one you favor.

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Fire Sweet and Fantasia: Two Nectarines

Nectarine Varieties

Nectarines