Albaricoque

Choose fruit that gives slightly when gently pressed and smells sweet and fragrant. Avoid hard, greenish apricots if you want to eat them straight away; they can soften at room temperature over a few days.

Leave firm apricots at room temperature until they soften, then keep them in the fridge and eat them within a few days. Wash them just before eating, rather than before storing.

Halve and stone them, arrange cut-side up in a baking dish, and bake at 180 °C for about 15–20 minutes, until tender but still holding their shape. A little honey or sugar and a splash of water help make a glossy syrup.

Use them in an apricot tart or crumble, or roast them and serve with yoghurt or porridge. They also work well in savoury dishes with lamb, couscous, almonds and warm spices.

Yes, but dried apricots are much more concentrated: they contain 188 kcal and 43.4 g of carbohydrate per 100 g, compared with 42 kcal and 9.5 g in fresh apricots. Soak them in warm water if you need them soft for baking or a sauce.

Eat the flesh, but discard the hard stone and do not eat the kernel inside it. Apricot kernels can contain compounds that release cyanide when digested.

No; the skin is edible, so rinse the fruit and eat it whole or halve and stone it for cooking. Peeling is only useful if you specifically want a smoother texture in a purée or sauce.