No, it’s not peach season, not yet. We won’t get to bite into fresh, juicy peaches until mid-June at the earliest. But if peaches are dried or frozen, then you can eat them year-round.
And last night at Flea St. Cafe in Menlo Park, CA, that’s exactly what we did. Owner Jesse Cool hosted peach farmers Mas and Marcy Masumoto, who have a peach farm south of Fresno, CA, called Masumoto Family Farm. Mas is known for writing Epitaph for a Peach, his journey to save the Suncrest peach variety. It’s a treat to meet him; he’s as passionate about peaches and farming in person as he is in the pages of his book. He’s also just written Wisdom of the Last Farmer.
We had a five course meal, with peaches features as a crema on Dungeness crab and wrapped with salumi as appetizers, a peach soup with short ribs, a chicory and parsley salad with the best peach fritters ever, chutney made by Marcy Masumoto with pork loin, and a strawberry rhubarb crisp with peach whipped cream, and a peach chocolate truffle. Yum! To me the best wine pairing was the Pey-Marin Riesling “The Shell Mound”. The crisp acidity balanced the sweet peaches.
All I know is that I will be heading to the Berkeley Bowl starting in mid-June to purchase some of Mas’s fresh peaches, and I can’t wait!