TERESA TAYLOR: Tasty apricot fare, but don't tell it to the Marines


A Charleston reader asked for savory or sweet recipes using dried or fresh apricots.
The apricot is an ancient and prized fruit whose origin isn't crystal clear. The scientific name Prunus armeniaca (Armenian plum) is due to the apricot's long cultivation there, but other sources suggest China, perhaps even India, was the first place where the trees were purposely grown for harvest.

California is a leading producer in the world today thanks to the Spanish, who planted them in the gardens of missions.
At any rate, Confucius is said to have honed his philosophies while sitting beneath an apricot tree. The Romans named the fruit "praecocium," meaning precocious, because of its early ripening. Thus evolved the English word "apricot."
One group doesn't prize apricots at all: our U.S. Marine Corps. The superstition exists that apricots are a jinx that invite deadly trouble, especially for Marine tanks and their drivers. This may have started during World War II when a platoon of Amphibious Assault Vehicles fell to the Japanese. Supposedly every AAV was sunk and all crewmembers died. The bulk of their supplies were apricots.
(Indeed, I found numerous anti-apricot sentiments expressed online by Marines or former Marines.)
Apricots are closely related to plums, peaches, cherries and almonds. In fact, an offspring called "pluot," a cross between a plum and apricot, is growing in popularity today. You might be seeing similar hybrids as well, such as plumcot or aprium. Science certainly keeps things interesting