Food You Can Eat: Peach Melba

If Matthew Crawley and his wife/distant cousin Lady Mary existed in real life, they would have enjoyed a good Peach Melba. It was created by Victorian celebrity chef Auguste Escoffier at the Savoy Hotel in either 1892 or 1893, according to wiki, in honor of another Victorian celebrity, Australian soprano Nellie Melba. Escoffier’s cookbook, Le Guide Culinaire, is still in print. Escoffier’s name lives on. 

For a long time, long enough that I have eaten there, the “fine dining” restaurant at the Beverly Hilton was L’Escoffier. The Beverly Hilton also had a Trader Vic’s, up until even more recently, and its hallways are lined with black-and-white photos from Hollywood’s Golden Age. Merv Griffin used to own it and kept his offices there. It is rumored that JFK used to smuggle Marilyn Monroe in there for trysts when he was in town. Its ballroom hosts the Golden Globes. Its white marble-clad lobby seems untouched from 1962. There are huge chandeliers. I think it is obvious why Better Half and I stay at the Beverly Hilton when we are in LA.

Anyway, may I present Cousin Matt’s Peach Melba, as adapted from Escoffier himself to the point of unrecognizability. Each person gets one peach, so this is a dessert for 6. Scale up or down if necessary.

6 peaches

About 1 cup sugar, maybe more

Rich vanilla ice cream, 12 heaping tablespoons (or 6 scoops if you want) total. Escoffier made his own. Of course he did. 

2 cups of raspberries

About 1/4 cup of powdered sugar

A little lemon juice

Some slivered almonds, optional

Here’s a really good trick that also works well with tomatoes: You have to peel the peaches. To do that, score them at the top (make an X with a knife) and boil them in a saucepan for less than a minute. They have to be covered completely. Then really quickly move them (with a slotted spoon) into a bowl of ice water standing by. When they’re cool enough to handle you should be able to peel the skin off in strips or even push the skin off the fruit using just your thumbs. 

Slice the peeled peaches in half and remove the stone. Put the 12 halves on a large plate and sprinkle liberally with sugar. Try to coat them thoroughly all over, and each has to have its own space so don’t pile them on top of each other. Put this in the fridge.

Next, make a cold raspberry coulis. [Note: You can buy raspberry syrup but I find that if you’re not adding it in a small amount to a very alcoholic drink it’s kind of gross, so I make my own. This is easy because you don’t boil it.] Put the raspberries, powdered sugar, and lemon juice in a blender and get it to liquefy. Place a strainer over a bowl and pour in the liquid to remove pulp and seeds. Push and push with the back of a metal spoon so you get every last drop of the liquid. 

To motivate yourself, remember that one time that you and Better Half were supposed to fly together to LA but at the last minute he had to rebook to a slightly later flight. You, being frugal and arriving alone, took a SuperShuttle van that made all kinds of stops but finally deposited you at the Beverly Hilton. To your anger you discovered that Better Half had beaten you there, and had he suggested that you just wait at goddam LAX for another hour you could have ridden together in the corporate-supplied rental car—

Chill the syrup for a little bit and join your guests for a quick drink. You can make Peach Melba ahead of time, the syrup can be premade at least, but it’s best if you put out something after dinner to distract and deflect (a little cheese, maybe some chocolates, tell them now would be a good time to go outside and smoke if they want to, remind them where the bathrooms are) and make the Peach Melba right then and there.

In a bowl, give each person 2 peach halves, lump in the vanilla ice cream, and spoon over the raspberry sauce. If you have slivered almonds sprinkle a few on top, and the recipe calls for this, but I did that once and don’t regret omitting them on subsequent occasions.