There is a traditional Turkish saying, used for a situation that cannot get any better, that translates literally as “The only thing better than this is an apricot in Damascus.”

Apricots ripen and drop during a relatively short period of the year, as figs do, and yet apricots receive far less attention and devotion than figs. Perhaps because apricots are not so consistent in flavor as figs. Perhaps because they act as the introductory fruit to the later, and more obviously luxurious, peaches and plums.

Unless you have lived in a place where apricots grow well, and have eaten a perfectly ripe apricot that has been refrigerated only briefly or not at all, you cannot appreciate how delightfully flavorful an apricot can be.