Alex's Peaches Amaretto

December 13, 2007

I seem to have spent a lot of time in the past month standing round eating and drinking as the pre-Christmas hospitality has flowed unremittingly. Often the conversation will turn to food, prompted by the plates of sustenance being passed around.

I’ve met some really dedicated foodies in the course of socialising and it’s always fun to talk with someone who not only spends time in the kitchen but also really enjoys it.

I attended a Mediterranean soiree at the Melbourne Food and Wine Festival one evening late last summer and was soon chatting with a man who told me he was of Italian extraction. He loved cooking. He loved eating.

We were soon swapping notes on favourite restaurants, dishes we made, good shops for buying specialised produce.

A few days later I received an email from him saying he’d enjoyed talking with me about his “favourite subject: FOOD”. He’d been shopping with his wife at the weekend and they’d bought some very nice freestone peaches. At least “they did look nice on the outside but the flesh was a bit mushy. It gave me the impression that the final stages of ripening took place in the cool room,” he said.

They considered making peach jam “but, on second thoughts, I remembered eating baked peaches many years ago while holidaying in Eboli, Italy. I gave it a go and they were not bad at all.”

He kindly shared the recipe with me. Last weekend I had some new season’s peaches that needed a bit of a flavour boost so it was time to try Alex’s dish.

Amaretto di Saronno is an almond flavoured liqueur. It goes back to 1525 when Bernardino Luini, a member of the Leonardo Da Vinci School, painted a poor, beautiful young widow in a renowned fresco in a sanctuary in Saronno. She in turn created the liqueur as a gift for him. It is made from an infusion of apricot kernel oil and contains the pure essence of 17 selected herbs. The almond flavour certainly enhances the peaches.

Alex’s Peaches Amaretto

6 peaches
raw sugar
Amaretto

Pre-heat the oven to 220C.

With a sharp knife, cut around the circumference of each peach in the groove. Twist the peach to release the stone. If it remains in one side, dig it out with a teaspoon.

Lay the peaches cut side up in an ovenproof dish, keeping the tops as straight as possible. Place a heaped teaspoon of raw sugar in each peach-stone indentation, sprinkling a little on the flesh. Wet the sugar with the Amaretto.

Place the dish in the oven and pour in a little water and another glug of Amaretto to make a little pouring sauce. Bake until the sugar starts to caramelise. Allow to cool for a while, then serve with whipped double cream flavoured with vanilla or with plain ice cream.

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