Blenheim apricots are amazing and seductive things, described by poet Diane Ackerman as being “somewhere between a peach and a prayer.” They are vibrant orange, thin-skinned, moist and filled with a sweet/tart flavor that lends itself to every course in a meal, from salads and starters to main dishes and side dishes to desserts. 

But the uniqueness of the Blenheim apricot contributes to its scarcity. Their thin skin that makes it more difficult to harvest also keeps it from being shipped great distances as it costs more to pick and process them and it limits their distribution. Though imported Turkish dried apricots lack the flavor and color of the Blenheim, they are cheaper to produce and have created a near-monopoly on the market.

“I talked to one guy who claimed Turkish apricots are sweeter,” said Patti Gonzales, co-owner of ApricotKing Orchards . “I said ‘Why don’t you and I have a race? You have ten Turkish apricots and I’ll have ten Blenheim apricots and we’ll see what you can eat.’ It is like eating a rubber band. They just don’t compare in flavor or moistness.”

Fortunately for local residents, Santa Clara and San Benito counties are the last holdouts in maintaining Blenheim orchards. Fine quality local dried apricots can be easily found in farmer’s markets, grocery stores and at the orchards themselves.

ApricotKing Orchards is one of San Benito County’s largest orchards and has been a family-run business for three generations. Specializing in a variety of dried Blenheims, they also sell other dried fruits, such as prunes, pears, cherries and nectarines, along with walnuts, almonds, and pistachios.

Gonzales clearly loves her Blenheim apricots and taking a tour of the orchards and facilities with her was a treat. 

“I used to be a teacher and I have a soft spot for the school kids when they come by,” she said. “The other day we had some homeschoolers here and I let them into the cold storage so they could freeze for a while. They are just so appreciative of having someplace to go and something to do.” 

This year has been a bountiful one for ApricotKing. Their 37-acre orchard, made up of around 7,000 trees, produced 80 tons of apricots last year. This year, it produced an astounding 250 tons of apricots. 

“This year, our regular drying yard was filled in two days, Gonzales said. “It forced us to cut down a few acres of trees because there was no place to put the cut fruit to dry. It was sad to do it, but we have the rest of the orchards here and on Union Road left.”

While this year produced a bounty, the incursion of Turkish apricots remains a threat. The fall has been precipitous: as the cheaper apricots invaded the market, growers ripped out apricot trees in order to plant crops that were better at generating a profit. According to the California Farm Bureau, the Blenheim apricot production in California went from 32,000 tons in 1988 to only 4,000 tons by 2009. 

As a result, the Blenheim apricot has been driven to near extinction and ApricotKing had to reinvent itself. 

“Years ago, we would just wave goodbye to two semi-truck loads of apricots and wait for a check for them,” Gonzales said. “Then suddenly we could not sell retail anymore. I wrote to hundreds of grocery stores telling them we had the best apricots in the world and I got no response. At that time there were about 100 growers around here. Now there are only about five.”

Now the business is focused on farmer’s markets and internet sales, with packaging and shipping being done just steps away from where tables filled with apricots are being hand-sorted daily for size and quality and fruit is being hand-coated with chocolate.

No matter what, Gonzales is far from giving up on the Blenheim apricot.

“We have long-time employees and there are always younger kids coming to work for us,” she said. “It takes a lot of work, but at the end of it all, you have the best-tasting fruit in the world. And it does not get any better than that.”

Unless otherwise indicated, all of the dried fruits ApricotKing sells are sulphured, meaning it is exposed to a vapor of sulfur dioxide which helps preserve the freshness, color, and flavor. Sulphuring is an FDA-approved process and only trace amounts of sulfur remain after drying. Sulphured foods are considered safe for consumption, however, people with heightened sensitivity to sulfur should choose ApricotKing’s unsulphured fruits. 

Orchard Blend Apricots (10 oz, $11.50) – Apricots, like eggs, are graded by size and quality. This blend is a mix of fancy, choice and extra choice dried apricots. Regardless of the grade, they are moist and packed with flavor and perfect for snacking. I always have dried apricots in the kitchen, ready to dice and use. To me, apricots are like garlic—once you start thinking of ways to use them as an ingredient, possibilities will jump out at you. I like adding them to my oatmeal as it cooks or mixing a handful into pancake batter. They work very well in steamed rice and risotto recipes. And apricot stuffed chicken breasts are incredibly easy to make and delicious.

Unsulphured Blenheim Apricots (16 oz, $16.21) – Unsulphured apricots are more work-intensive to produce, requiring extra washing and drying time and are preferred by people who dislike preservatives in their foods. Unlike sulfured apricots, the color is dull black and the texture is tougher and denser, though they can be soaked in water to restore moistness. The flavor is darker and more intense and, to me, they are an acquired taste rather than my first choice. Because they are unsulphured and therefore lack any preservative, they must be kept refrigerated or frozen.

Simply Slab Apricots – (14 oz, $20 ) – “Slabs are sweeter than regular apricots because they were allowed to ripen longer on the tree,” said Gonzales. “They are more irregular in shape and they do not keep perfectly round because the sugar makes them break a little bit.” These are machine cut to be thinner than the regular dried apricots and are not dried quite as much. The extra amount of ripening, almost to the point of over-ripeness, makes them softer and much sweeter than other dried apricots. These are a true gourmet choice, the tenderloin of apricots. Slabs are also sulphured less than the regular apricots, which makes them taste brighter but shortens their shelf and storage life. These are my favorite and to me are the closest you can get to a fresh apricot taste and texture.

Slippit Apricots (16 oz, $25) – As the name suggests, the apricot pit is slipped out after the apricot has been dried. “You have to pick out the biggest and the best apricots,” said Gonzales. “You sulphur them and dry them for four or five days. The fine line is to get the pits out without the apricot being too dry. All the flavor is inside, and you don’t want to slip the guts out.” Leaving the pit in the apricot while drying gives it a little extra kick of flavor. Slip pit apricots are widely considered to be the finest type—Gonzales referred to them as the Cadillac of apricots.

Dark Chocolate Dipped Apricots (14 oz, $25.21 ) – These are the regular sulphured dried apricots that are hand-dipped one at a time in fine Guittard-crafted chocolate. They can be bought either partly or completely dipped in chocolate. I prefer the partly dipped ones myself because I think more of the apricot flavor comes through. But either way, dark chocolate is a great match for apricots, with the bitterness playing off the citric acid in the fruit. These naturally pair with red wine, perhaps one of the local pinot noirs or even a port.

Organic Blenheim Apricot Jam (9 oz, $7) – While this jam is made with dried apricots, it tastes as bright and as fresh as if you were eating the apricot straight from the tree. The key to keeping the flavor honest is holding the sugar to a bare minimum, allowing the fruit itself to dictate the sweetness. “Most commercial jams are 35% to 40% sugar range,” Gonzales said. “While that is the usual commercial range, with ours, we keep it to 10% sugar, which is just enough to keep the pectin set.” One of my favorite uses for this jam is to mix in a little mustard—a spoonful of Dijon and a spoonful of whole grain mustard—into about a third of a cup of jam and serve it as a sauce over chicken.

Apricot Pepper Syrup (15 oz, $8.75 ) – One of the great things about apricots is that they can stand up to all kinds of seasonings and still maintain their flavor, adding a sweet and sour component that balances out even strong spices. This syrup is made with dried apricots, apple cider vinegar, dried red chili peppers and crushed jalapeño peppers, which adds a fine kick of flavor without being overwhelming. It is thinner than the jam, of course, and lacks the sweetness from added sugar, which makes it perfect to use as-is as a sauce for chicken, ham, or pork. It would not be a stretch to serve this over really good vanilla ice cream or drizzled over a chorizo omelet.

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