National Apricot Day

National Apricot Day brings a delightful opportunity to show appreciation for and celebrate this pitted fruit that is enjoyed and appreciated by so many. On this day, you are encouraged to add this fruit to your diet, and also to learn about all of the goodness it has to offer!

How to Celebrate National Apricot Day

Eat Apricots, Fresh or Dried

Fresh apricots are tasty, refreshing, and should be eaten whenever possible. Dried apricots are almost as delicious and can be had throughout the year. Apricots are rich in nutrients, so you can’t really go overboard. They can be used in more ways than you think too, so be creative.

Plant an Apricot Tree

Why not participate in National Apricot Day by planting your own apricot tree in your garden? This is a fun activity that can include the kids – and it will enable you to produce your own delicious apricots, rather than having to buy them from the store. Of course, if you live in an apartment this is not going to be possible, so why not support a local grower in the area instead of buying from one of the big supermarkets?

Cook and Bake with Apricots

There are so many delicious and amazing apricot recipes that you can create on this date. This includes some tasty desserts, such as white chocolate and apricot cheesecake, apricot shortbread, as well as apricot, cinnamon, and olive oil cake.

Apricots are not only used in desserts, but are often a feature in appetizer and main courses as well. Apricots even pair well with goats cheese! You will also find that apricot is often used in Moroccan cuisine, as it is a regular feature in tagines. You should have no trouble finding plenty of exciting apricot recipes online for celebrating National Apricot Day!

Celebrate with Apricot Cocktails

Don’t forget to end the day by celebrating with an Apricot cocktail. We have seen some really exciting cocktail recipes online that include apricot or apricot syrup. One of our favorites is an Apricot and Honey Bourbon Sour cocktail. This consists of apricots, apricot syrup, bourbon, lemon juice, and mint. It’s delicious!

Host an Apricot Themed Party

Get the family or a whole crew of friends involve in National Apricot Day through a themed party. Incorporate apricots into various foods, and maybe even celebrate with some Barack (apricot brandy, not Obama!).

Consider Health Benefits

There are a lot of health benefits that are associated with eating apricots. This fruit is an excellent source of both Vitamin A and Vitamin B. It also presents you with a good way of adding some more water to your diet. This is because roughly 86 percent of an apricot is water. The rest of the fruit is fat, protein, and carbohydrates.

Learn Interesting Facts About Apricots

• Apricots ripen in the early summer, but they’re quite commonly dried so that way we can enjoy them year-round. 
• The word ‘apricot’ in Latin purportedly means “precious”, but further investigation reveals that while this moniker is appropriate, it actually comes from Arabic ‘al barqūq’ (“early ripe”) via French ‘abricot’. “Early ripe” is appropriate because apricots tend to ripen earlier than most summer fruits.
• Drying apricots has been a common preservation practice for centuries. Most store-bought apricots retain the bright orange color that the fruits have when ripe. Organic dried apricots would be browner in color and the bright orange is a sign that the fruits were treated with sulfur compounds.

Check Out Apricot Kernels

While we already know that apricots are quite good for you, traditional Chinese medicine takes that a step further and utilizes apricot kernels quite freely. Since the Chinese are believed to have domesticated the apricot tree, it’s only fitting that it bears significance there!

Learn More on National Apricot Day

Some people might agree that apricots are underrated. They don’t seem to get the attention that apples, melons, and oranges do, right? However, apricots are incredibly delicious, taking a standard dish to Michelin Star heights when used effectively! They offer a number of different health benefits as well.

The apricot grows on a small tree, which tends to be between eight and 12 m in height. While this fruit can be found all over the world, its originates from the North East area of China, close to the Russian border.

The fruit that this tree produces is a drupe, comparable to a peach. There is only a single seed inside of the apricot, covered by a hard and stony shell, known as the kernel. The flesh of the apricot is very tasty, but it’s not very juicy.

History of National Apricot Day

From what we could find on the matter, the apricot tree was domesticated in China some 4,000 years ago. From there, apricots made their way across Asia to the Mediterranean region. The Spanish Conquistadores introduced apricots to the Americas back in the 16th century, planting the trees all over what is now the west coast of the United States.

Today, while the US is not among the top producers of apricots globally, 95% of the apricots grown in the United States come from the San Joaquin Valley in California. Apricots are tasty, healthy, and should be eaten whenever possible. Therefore you should enjoy apricots in celebration of these wonderful golden fruits.

National Apricot Day was founded with the purpose of honoring and promoting this fruit that deserves a bit of attention!