Get creative with peach; give it a savoury spin

I landed from a cold and cosy Bengaluru straight into an East Coast heatwave in New York and Boston a couple of weeks ago.

- NANDITA IYER

One thing that kept me going were my newly bought sneakers in New York City and the thought of spending time in my cousin Ramya's home in North Carolina on the next leg of our trip. This too was going to be in the middle of a hot Southern summer, but it held the promise of being with family, home-cooked meals and a seasonal fruit bounty that Ramya had been tempting me with, on our chats leading up to my travel.

Peaches were at the top of her list. As someone who has never lived in north India, my access to good stone fruit has always been painfully limited. Peaches may be Georgia's official state fruit, but North Carolina also enjoys an abundant peach season in the summer. So getting to taste peak-season peaches here was a very tempting idea. I had only ever eaten peaches that came in trays from supermarkets back home, often underripe or literally stony with no juiciness whatsoever.

We reached Ramya's home completely exhausted from two flights and thunderstorm-induced delays, and yet, the sight of fresh peaches sitting pretty in a wooden bowl on her kitchen island was warm and comforting. I knew the breakfast the next morning was going to be special. I held up a peach to my nose and took a long whiff—fruity, floral, and so delicious.