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["Three Hills Farm" <organic@threehillsfarm.com>]

>From: Martin Weber <martweb@arcor.de>
>Subject: [NAFEX] Hunza apricots

> What about the taste of Hunza apricots?

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Martin:

I've eaten many different Hunza apricots, but all in their dried form.
They're probably the most important staple in the Hunza diet.   In the town
of Karimabad--the epicenter of Hunza--there are shops everywhere that sell
nothing but dried apricots, sweet apricot kernels and dried white
mulberries.   These shops are as plentiful in Karimabad as McDonalds is
here.   Roofs of most homes in Karimabad are covered with huge wicker trays
of the drying fruit.   They're quite a sight to see.   I actually liked them
so much that I smuggled 10 pounds of the dried fruit into the US in late
2000 on my way back from a month in the Hunza Valley.   Sadly, this would be
tough to do post 9/11.   The fruit are quite amazing in their intensity, but
in general are a little smaller with less eye-appeal than our domesticed
apricots.  But the flavor of many of them is unparalleled in my book.   And
a number of them are off the chart regarding sugars.  One in particular has
been measured at over 30 Brix when fully ripe.   One noteworthy quality of
Hunza apricots is that they generally bloom about three to four weeks later
than our domestic apricots.   The downside though is their liklihood of
little disease resistance.   I don't believe these cultivars have have any
reason to develop any tolerance to the diseases that often plague apricots
here in the States given that they're indigenous to quite an arid region of
Pakistan.   Fortunately, this area gets quite cold as well, so the trees are
probably very hardy.   This past August, I had 36 different cultivars of
Hunza apricots grafted and will be seeing how they do on the Maine coast
over the next 5 to 10 years.   My hopes are that there will be a handful
that will be able to adapt to the climate of Zone 5 coastal Maine and
potentially many other colder regions of the US.

By the way, if any list members are avid readers of National Geographic, the
March 1994 issue had a terrific article called 'High Road to Hunza' with an
incredible 2 page photo of Hunza apricots drying on the roofs on one of the
local houses.   It's worth looking up that issue just to see this
photograph.

Cheers,

John

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John A Gasbarre
Three Hills Farm
Union, Maine  USA
organic@threehillsfarm.com
44° 15' 47" N / 69° 18' 42" W