Apricot

Already 5000 years ago, the Chinese used to cultivate apricots. Thousand of years later, the Limburgers, a tribe in southern Netherlands, used these fruits to make "Apricots Vlaai" (see recipe and photo below). Dreaming of apricots, is said to be good luck; dreaming of Apricots Vlaai is even better. This page provides some basic information on the apricot and a proverb.

Scientific name:	Prunus armeniaca
Family:	Rosaceae
Order:	Rosales
Common names:	English: Apricot Dutch: Abrikoos Spanish: Albaricoque Italian: Albicocco German: Aprikose, Aprikosenbaum French: Abricotier
Origin:	China
Distribution:	A lot of apricot is produced in southern Europe: Italy, France, Spain. Also some other countries around the Mediterranean and in Central Asea: Algeria, Marocco, Syria, Turkey, Iran, Pakistan. And also in Japan.
Evergreen or deciduous:	Deciduous
Flowers:
Leaves:	Leaves are ovate (oval shape), about 5 to 9 cm long and 4 to 8 cm wide. They have a pointed tip and a finely serrated margin.
Fruits:	Apricot fruits look like a small peach. The diameter is 1.5 to 2.5 centimeters. Color is yellow to bright orange, sometimes reddish. The surface of the fruit is usually covered with soft downy hairs. There is one single seed (stone).
Climate and weather:	Apricots grow
Pollination:
Height:	Apricot trees can be 8 to 12 meters tall.
Crown size:
Blooming period	Early spring. The lowers appear before the leaves.
Type of soil:
Preferred pH:
Moisture:
Light:
Growth rate:
Spacing (close range)
Spacing (wide range)
Canopy:
Propagation:	Grafting. Sometimes apricot cultivars grafted on rootstocks of plum or peach.
Insect pests:
Diseases:
Fruit development:
Harvesting:
Uses:

Photos

 

Proverbs

• The only thing better than this is an apricot in Damascus (Turkish expression, which means "it doesn't get any better than this")

Recipes

Apricots vlaai

Vlaai is a kind of pie made of sweet pastry and different types of fruit filling. It originates from the south of the Netherlands (Limburg province). A very famous type of vlaai is apricot vlaai.

Ingredients (for 2 vlaaien):
For the dough: 500 gram white wheat flour, 150 gram butter (margarine), yeast (about 25 g), warm milk (about 125 ml), some white soft sugar

Instructions for the dough:
Flour and small pieces of margarine in a bowl. Make a hole in the middle and put the yeast there. Some soft white sugar on the yeast. Part of the warm milk over the yeast. Start kneading from the middle. Slowly add more milk until you have a dough. It should not stick to the fingers. Place the dough in a warm place, covered with a cloth, and let it lift.
Then take half of the dough. Knead it very shortly. Take a round oven plate (metal dish for making vlaai) and grease it with some margarine. Put the dough on the plate. Cover it with a cloth and let it lift again for a few minutes.
Then press the dough flat covering the shape of the plate. Cover it with the apricots (should be cold, see below). Bake it in a preheated oven, about 15 minutes at high temperature.

Instructions for the apricots:
Use tins of apricots. Heat it with a bit of water. When almost boiling, thicken it with some potato starch. Let it boil very short. Then let it cool down before using it on the dough.