On our plates: Aussie Stonefruit – Plus 12 gorgeous stonefruit recipes

The Australian Stonefruit season is in full swing with peaches, nectarines, apricots and plums being harvested across NSW, QLD, VIC and WA. It’s great news for our fruit bowls, but earlier this year local fruit had to work harder for space on shelves and tables.

For the first time in 20 years US stonefruit was allowed to be imported into Australia during the 2013 winter season. It is a move that as noted on Food Mag, “gave Australian consumers the opportunity to purchase peaches and nectarines in the winter period when they are traditionally unavailable locally due to seasonality,” and as stated on Fresh Plaza provided retailers with “the opportunity to create excitement in their produce departments and boost sales with this high quality fruit that is traditionally not available during Winter.”

Why pray tell — with all the local citrus, late autumn apples and pears, and Queensland-based tropical fruit available all winter long — is it remotely necessary to import summer stonefruit from California?

This move has not only opened the flood-gates for yet more overseas off-season produce to enter Australia, further increasing the lack of consumer awareness about what it means to eat seasonally, but caused an overlap during October where both local and imported stonefruit were both vying for shelf space.

Chairman of Summerfruits Australia, Andrew Finlay, shared that buying local not only means a fair pay for farmers, but also allowing consumers to indulge in the freshest and tastiest produce available. “Support our growers and help save our industry by double checking country-of-origin food labels and make sure what you take home is Australian made,” he said.

We are well aware that over 10,000 tonnes of Aussie stonefruit are exported to other countries and it is an important piece of the industry — however our beef with the new importation is more about the public moving another step away from seasonal eating awareness and the overlap of imports compromising local produce.

The good news is that there is no more imported stonefruit on our shelves at time of writing and, due to a kind winter and a drier and warmer than average start to the season, Aussie fruit will be abundant and very sweet this year.

12 gorgeous stonefruit recipes to inspire you this summer

Now there’s nothing wrong with eating a luscious white nectarine (my favourite of the bunch) straight from the bowl — juice running down your chin and dripping onto the hot pavement — but on the off chance you want to do a bit more with your stonefruit we’ve found 12 gorgeous recipes to get you started!

Photos property of respective websites as noted and linked below

1. Nectarine Meyer Lemon Butter — Local Kitchen Blog
2. Peach Upside-Down Cake — Fat Free Vegan Kitchen
   
3. Peaches and Coconut Cream Pops — The Scrumptious Pumpkin
4. Lemon Raspberry Plum Galettes — The Candid Appetite
5. Plum Ice Cream — Passionate About Baking
6. Spiced Plum Cordial — Seasonal Sunday Lunch
7. Peaches and Cream Stuffed French Toast — Two Peas and Their Pod
8. Pickled Nectarine Salad with Burrata — Bon Appetit
9. Nectarine Parfaits with Walnut Crumble and Lemon Cashew Cream — Gourmande in the Kitchen
10. Apricot Cornmeal Cakes — Daisy’s World
11. Plum Clafoutis — Taste.com
12. Spiced Nectarine Cake — Epicurious

Did you know?

Around 800 growers in 26 regions spread across Australia produce more than 100,000 tonnes of nectarines, plums, apricots and peaches from the beginning of October to April each year.

Australian Stonefruit Growing regions

• QLD: Granite Belt, Sunshine Coast Hinterland
• NSW: Araluen, Bathurst, Central Tablelands, Coffs Harbour, Forbes, Hunter Valley, Medowie, Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area, Northern Tablelands, Tumut, Sydney Hills District, Orange, Young
• VIC: Goulburn Valley, Cobram, outer Melbourne Metropolitan Area (Dandenong and Yarra Ranges), Mid Murray, Sunraysia, Swan Hill, Woorinen
• TAS: Huon, North East and South East Region, Coal Valley
• SA: Adelaide Hills, Riverland, Barossa Valley
• WA: Dwellingup, Donnybrook, Manjimup, Perth Hills, Gin Gin

 Photo Credit: Jennifer Jenner unless otherwise noted

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