
Peach melba
Prep 20 mins
Cook 5 mins
Serves 4
Difficulty 1.5
Dame Nellie Melba once described Adelaide as “that city of the three P’s – parsons, pubs and prostitutes.” In Duncan Welgemoed’s book Africola, he describes his restaurant’s connection to the famous soprano: “N&M (her street name) is considered one of the greatest singers of all time and she bloody owned the penthouse above Africola! How’s that for a coincidence? Not only do we occasionally cook for the clergy, the building was a pub and we have been described as a brothel. This is my version of the classic dessert that was created in her honour.”
4 ripe peaches
4 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp flaked almonds
500 g raspberries
3 tbsp icing (confectioners’) sugar
2 tsp raspberry vinegar
4 scoops of good vanilla ice-cream
1. Blanch the peaches in a pan of boiling water for a minute, then lift them out with a slotted spoon and refresh in iced water. Once they’re cool enough to handle, slip off their skins, cut in half and discard the stones.
2. Put the peach halves in a shallow dish, sprinkle over the sugar, then set aside for about an hour to macerate, preferably in the fridge, turning a couple of times.
3. Meanwhile, toast the almonds in a hot oven until lightly golden and leave to cool.
4. Blitz two-thirds of the raspberries with the icing sugar and the raspberry vinegar, then adjust to taste and push through a fine sieve to make a smooth sauce. Stir in the remaining raspberries and put in the fridge until you’re ready to eat.
5. To serve, put two peach halves in each dish and add a scoop of vanilla ice-cream. Pour the sauce over the top and finish with a sprinkling of flaked almonds.
INGREDIENTS
METHOD
Images and text have been extracted with permission from the book Africola by Duncan Welgemoed; food photography by Simon Bajada. Murdoch Books RRP $49.99.