With more than 2,000 peach varieties grown around the world (a hundred in Spain), it does not seem easy to find good, sweet and aromatic peaches on the market. Peaches do not last long after being harvested, which is why so many varieties are produced to be able to offer fresh produce to the market throughout the summer. But even choosing a good variety (very difficult on the other hand because many look similar externally and have nothing to do with each other in terms of flavor) is not a guarantee of buying good peaches. You may tend to identify a large, well-colored, bright peach with a good peach. Nothing is further from reality. Of course, if something characterizes good fruit, it is not its appearance (or not only), but its sweetness, and the peach has a characteristic sweetness that makes a good peach highly valued.

“Many varieties of peaches are grown in Cieza, but the characteristics of the growing area, and the know-how of Cieza farmers, mean that they all have their sweetness and characteristic smell in common.”

The factors that determine the flavor and sweetness of the peach are basically two: that they are harvested at a good point of ripeness and that they are eaten a few days later, because the peach is a fruit that once off the tree no longer ripens well. Something technical but fundamental to know: some fruits ripen when carbohydrates are transformed into sugars, which is why, for example, bananas, apples or pears retain and even improve their sweetness over the days. However, the peach gets its sweetness from the sap of the plant, which is why it is essential to pick it from the tree at the right time. And above all, a sweet fruit has a smell, and the smell of a peach is characteristic and unmistakable. If it doesn't smell, it's best to go to the canned section and buy a good peach in syrup, which will surely be sweet. When we approach the stand and smell the peach, we can already think that we are looking at a good fruit, now we only need to know if it is a fresh fruit, or if it has been picked for longer than advisable, and for that we have to see its appearance.

Buying authentic Cieza peaches is a guarantee of tasting good peaches, if it has been picked from the tree at the right moment of maturity and is fresh.

The skin has to be yellow with reddish tones. We must see if it does not have dark-colored lesions that reduce its flavor, or green parts that indicate that there may be pieces picked before they have ripened that have been mixed with those that are ripe. And that it has characteristic peach fuzz. A bright peach generally doesn't have as much sweetness. And once you have made a good purchase, you only need to preserve it well: we can leave it out of the refrigerator for a couple of days if it is not completely ripe and then put it in the refrigerator, but in the least cold area, that is, in the lower shelves.