From the Etna, the flat and sweet peach with a white pulp!
Origin
Saturn peach is a rare peach variety that is originally from China. It has a flattened shape that recalls the snuffbox one, or Saturn the planet. In Italy this variety spread at the beginning of the ‘800 around the Etna, particularly in the Sieto and Alcantara Valleys where still now a day there are Slow Food Presidia cultivations. There are also cultivations in Emilia Romagna and Marche. It is a very delicate fruit and it can be preserved for just 2-3 days after harvesting time (last 2 weeks of July). Because of its singular shape, it can’t be transported and it can’t adapt to traditional packaging, that’s why it’s not so common to find it in the supermarket!
Cookit
Thanks to its sweet and fragrant pulp, saturn peach is perfect to be eaten fresh and raw, even if it is very much used to make ice creams and slushes. Because of its high perishability it is used to make marmalades and jams, but it is perfect to make savor dishes with fish. Try red prawns’ tartare with marinated Saturn peach and ginger, lime and mint! Everything with a nice Sicilian Chardonnay!
Did you know
One of the most famous estate where this peach is produced, the Ducea di Maniace, was donated in 1799 from Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies to the British admiral Horace Nelson, as a reward for the help given by the brits to control the revolution in Naples. That territory because one of the best to cultivate this sweet fruit, conquering the favor of the population.
