It’s a what? Donut peaches and why they rock but cannot roll

I’ve been looking forward to this all year. It is finally donut peach season. What is a donut peach you ask? Well, it’s a peach that sorta looks like a donut. Just imagine if you took a regular peach and then flattened it.

I don’t know if it is all in my head and a result of someone’s very smart renaming of the fruit (It used to be called a Chinese flat peach. See historical note below) but I swear they are better than regular peaches. Anyway, they are now in season and included in my Norman’s Farm Market CSA. Below is a list of reasons why they are better than regular peaches and a brief history of how they came to be according to my google searches.

Why donut peaches are awesome

1. They look funny. Things are almost always better when they are quirky.
2. They are the fruit equivalent of mini candy bars. In other words they are the perfect size
3. You can use them as payment to your coworkers who get dragged to your CSA pick-up every week and are forced to help you carry your produce
4. They are really sweet and delicious but with way fewer calories than an actual donut
5. They have an great name

The history (maybe) of the donut peach
Flat peaches originated in China, and were first grown in the U.S. in the 1800’s. Somehow it fell out of favor, perhaps due to its white flesh. Earlier American consumers preferred yellow fleshed varieties. Originally the flat varieties had no special names. They were called Chinese flat peaches, Chinese saucer peaches, or peento peaches. Today, they are called “donut peaches”.

Tagged as: donut peaches, flat peaches, peaches