seb@mtgzz.UUCP (s.e.badian) (09/13/85)
Is a nectarine a product of breeding non-fuzzy peaches until they got a fuzzless peach? (Is this esoteric, or what?) They taste the same. The only difference is the fuzz. I prefer nectarines since I don't like fuzz with my fruit. Anyone know? Sharon Badian ihnp4!mtgzz!seb ...just running up that hill...
velardoc@wanginst.UUCP (Laura Velardocchia) (09/13/85)
A nectarine is a cross between a plum and a peach. The result is fuzzless. -- Laura Velardocchia velardoc@wanginst (Csnet) Wang Institute of Graduate Studies wanginst!velardoc (UUCP) Tyng Road, Tyngsboro, MA 01879 (617) 649-9731
rew@cbosgd.UUCP (Bob Warren) (09/13/85)
In article <1154@mtgzz.UUCP>, seb@mtgzz.UUCP (s.e.badian) writes: > > Is a nectarine a product of breeding non-fuzzy peaches until > they got a fuzzless peach? No. They crossed plums and peaches to get nectarines. BTW, I think nectarines do NOT taste like peaches. They are not quite as sweet and are jucier with a great tang. Bob Warren cbosgd!rew
scs@wucs.UUCP (Steve Swope) (09/14/85)
In article <1154@mtgzz.UUCP>, seb@mtgzz.UUCP (s.e.badian) writes: > > Is a nectarine a product of breeding non-fuzzy peaches until > they got a fuzzless peach? (Is this esoteric, or what?) They taste > the same. The only difference is the fuzz. I prefer nectarines since > I don't like fuzz with my fruit. Anyone know? > A nectarine is the result of grafting a peach limb onto a plum tree, or a plum limb onto a peach tree (I don't remember off-hand which) Steve Swope (aka scs@wucs.UUCP) "Brigadier, A straight line may be the shortest path between two points, but it is by no means the most interesting!"
jeff@rtech.UUCP (Jeff Lichtman) (09/16/85)
> > Is a nectarine a product of breeding non-fuzzy peaches until > they got a fuzzless peach? (Is this esoteric, or what?) They taste > the same. The only difference is the fuzz. I prefer nectarines since > I don't like fuzz with my fruit. Anyone know? > > Sharon Badian From "The Greengrocer" by Joe Carcione: "Time and time again I've heard people insist that nectarines are either a rather new variety of fuzzless peach or a cross between a peach and a plum. Wrong on both counts. Nectarines are a relative of the peach but are a distinct variety, maybe even older than their other relatives, cherries and apricots. They originated in the Orient before the time of Christ and were known to the ancient Greeks." Besides being fuzzless, nectarines are less juicy than peaches and have a fleshier texture. To me, they also have a slightly different flavor from peaches. -- Jeff Lichtman at rtech (Relational Technology, Inc.) aka Swazoo Koolak {amdahl, sun}!rtech!jeff {ucbvax, decvax}!mtxinu!rtech!jeff
robert@smcvax.UUCP (09/16/85)
/* Written 8:04 pm Sep 12, 1985 by mtgzz.UUCP!seb in smcvax:net.cooks */
/* ---------- "Nectarine vs Peach" ---------- */
Is a nectarine a product of breeding non-fuzzy peaches until
they got a fuzzless peach? (Is this esoteric, or what?) They taste
the same. The only difference is the fuzz. I prefer nectarines since
I don't like fuzz with my fruit. Anyone know?
Sharon Badian
ihnp4!mtgzz!seb
...just running up that hill...
/* End of text from smcvax:net.cooks */
If I remember correctly, a nectarine is a cross of a peach and a plum.
Robert Wallace {ctvax,infoswx}!smcvax!robertwmartin@brl-tgr.ARPA (Will Martin ) (09/16/85)
I just read about this in a magazine article on peaches a day or so ago. They explicitly stated that a nectarine is *not* a cross between a plum and a peach, but merely the result of careful breeding of lightly-fuzzed and not-fuzzed peaches. No plums involved at all. Of course, maybe they were lying... Will
joe@emacs.UUCP (Joe Chapman) (09/18/85)
``These stone fruits, or drupes, all come from a single genus in the rose family, Prunus, and contain a large seed surrounded by a hard coat composed mostly of lignin. [...] The peach was brought to Europe in Roman times, and is now grown primarily in the United States, South Africa, and Australia. There are two main varieties of peach: freestone and clingstone; their names describe how easily the fruit is separated from the stone. Pectic substances (part of the cell wall cement) become much more soluble in the freestone during ripening than they do in the cling. Freestones have almost disappeared from the market today because cling peaches are firmer, easier to transport, and more deeply colored (the orange pigment in apricots and peaches is a precursor of vitamin A). The dry, mealy, ``wooly'' texture of some supermarket peaches is caused by picking the fruit early and putting it into cold storage for two weeks or more; this treatment reduces the level of enzymes that convert insoluble protopectin into soluble pectin. ``The nectarine is a fuzzless variety of peach, and this is the major difference, although nectarines also tend to be smaller. The fuzzy trait is genetically dominant. Nectarines and peaches can develop from each other spontaneously as mutations from seed or as bud sports.'' In consideration of Usenet telephone charges, I'd normally hesitate before quoting in extenso like this, but if you haven't got a copy of Harold McGee's ``On Food and Cooking'' (which I've quoted above) I hope to have whetted your appetite; it's published by Scribner's and well worth the $29.95 price tag. -- -- Joseph Chapman decvax!cca!emacs!joe CCA Uniworks, Inc. joe@cca-unix.ARPA 20 William St. Wellesley, MA 02181 (617) 235-2600
de@moscom.UUCP (Dave Esan) (09/20/85)
> > Is a nectarine a product of breeding non-fuzzy peaches until > they got a fuzzless peach? (Is this esoteric, or what?) They taste > the same. The only difference is the fuzz. I prefer nectarines since > I don't like fuzz with my fruit. Anyone know? > I had always heard that a nectarine was a mutation of a peach, that the USDA had propogated (one of their success stories.) David Esan (ritcv!moscom!de)
jeffw@tekecs.UUCP (Jeff Winslow) (09/21/85)
> ``These stone fruits, or drupes, all come from a single genus in the > rose family, Prunus, and contain a large seed surrounded by a hard coat > composed mostly of lignin. [...] The peach was brought to Europe in > Roman times, and is now grown primarily in the United States, South > Africa, and Australia. Speaking of which, I remember having apricots in New Zealand that were bigger that most nectarines and approximately as juicy. It's enough to change your whole outlook on apricots (if you don't happen to care for them). Does anyone know if these are available in the US? Jeff Winslow