I never knew that one of my favorite fruits had such great and interesting history behind its rich and sweet flavor. Peaches, that is their name, is one of my favorite fruits because of its sweetness and juiciness. This round doughnut shaped is sweet and juicy that you can put it in any forms of dessert, drink , salad, pastry or even as a garnish on baked food. It has so many variety of cooking and it is so versatile! And speaking of variety, this fruit also comes in various forms of varieties based on the countries they came from which I will further elaborate in the next section on their history.
Colonial History of Peaches
The first thing I found out was that peaches were actually originated from China. I usually would think peaches would be from Japan because most of the peaches I bought were from Japan. But they were actually cultivated from China since the 1000 B.C.E.. It is from China that the spread of peach cultivation goes to Persia to Europe and finally to America.
To start off , a fun fact I know was that peaches had a special significance in the Chinese culture. The peach tree is a symbol of life and peaches are symbols of unity and immortality. Thus, this could show that peaches are originated from China because of their symbolic meaning that is already given by China.
Moving on to their history, peaches were first cultivated in China and were introduced to Persia between the 1st to 2nd century B.C.E.. This spread of peach cultivation to Persia led to an extent whereby this fruit was later named as the Persica fruit by the Persians. That is why some people nowadays would also think that peaches were made from Persia because of this famous commercial route from China to Persia. The seeds were brought by the Chinese who traveled west via the silk roads to Persia. The trees in Persia are mostly self pollinated which is mostly suitable for growing peaches.
Then, in Persia, the peaches were discovered by Alexander the Great who introduced them to the Greeks in Europe during the 322 B.C.E.. By the 50 to 20 B.C.E. , the Romans started to grow their own peaches and transport it to west and other parts of their European empire.
It is also believed that the Spaniards in Europe introduced peaches to South America after the conquests of Cortez and then eventually to England and France where people would take it as a sweet treat in their meals.
Finally, in the early 17th century, a horticulturist George Minife brought the first peaches from England to America. From then on wards during the 19th century, a group of American Indian tribes start to spread the growth of peach cultivation in all parts of America.
Nowadays, you can see peaches in various forms such as yellow flesh would probably be found in Europe and North America. As for the white flesh which is much sweeter is most popular in Europe.
Bibliography
J, Janick. ” The origins of fruits, fruit growing, and fruit breeding. “Purdue University. 2005. Last Accessed October 29th 2018. https://hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/origins%20of%20fruits.pdf
“Peach facts: Peachy Keen. All About Peaches.” The Nibble, Great Find Foods. August 2006. Updated on July 2008. Last accessed October 29th 2018. http://www.thenibble.com/reviews/main/fruits/peach-facts.asp
“Peach. Tree and fruit. ” Encyclopedia Britannica. Updated on July 8, 2018. Last Accessed October 29th, 2018.
https://www.britannica.com/plant/peach
Interesting story about peaches! I too am a favorite fan of donut peaches from Spain. So, do peaches have a colonial entanglement?