Have fruit, get gift card – and more. How to enjoy the bounty of apricots, now in season

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Call ‘em app-ru-cots, ape-ri-cots or just delicious: Apricots are definitely in season.

The orange fruit with a big ol’ pit can be found all over backyards and farmers markets these days. My parents’ apricot tree in Davis is going nuts for the second year in a row. After making apricot ice cream and vodka infusions last year, I’ve taken to chopping up the fruits’ soft flesh and mixing it into my morning yogurt.

Native to China and popular in the Middle East, apricots aren’t exactly a flagship Sacramento-area crop. But approximately 95% of the U.S. production comes from California, mostly by taking advantage of the Central Valley’s Mediterranean climate to ripen in the summer. Even though the 50th Annual Patterson Apricot Fiesta took place earlier this month in Stanislaus County, a handful grow closer to our neck of the woods as well.

Ginger Elizabeth Patisserie sold apricot almond tarts last weekend made with fruit from owner Ginger Elizabeth Hahn’s two backyard trees.

The Sacramento Natural Food Co-op recommends wrapping the fruit in puff pastry with a little brown sugar and nutmeg. Yolo County’s Good Humus Produce apricots, dubbed “the crowd-pleaser” in a recent Edible Sacramento article, supply grocery stores and restaurants around the region.

That supply-chain loop is closed (somewhat) at Tree House Cafe. A converted house at 630 3rd St. in West Sacramento, Tree House Cafe’s apricot tree was planted in the 1930s or 40s by Bonifacio Ulatan, the Filipino immigrant whose family owned the property through years of racial persecution.

That tree produced 19 usable apricots in 2021. This year, Tree House Cafe has about 500, owner Jeff “Fro” Davis said. Chef E.B. Shin is incorporating them into chutneys, barbecue sauce, yogurt, fresh fruit bowls and daily specials

Why the change in production? Tree House Cafe gardener Zachary Traynor adjusted the soil’s pH and began watering at a slower trickle for a couple of hours instead of faster streams for 30-45 minutes. The restaurant’s lush back patio has also become a hangout hotspot, which inadvertently helped keep pests at bay.

“Squirrels are our enemy here, because we have so many fruit trees,” Traynor said. “And I think the increased volume at the restaurant has kind scared off the squirrels as well.”

Still, one tree won’t fully stock a popular restaurant. So Davis has put out an offer to customers with excess fruit, including apricots: give us 50 pieces, we’ll give you a $50 Tree House gift card.

What I’m Eating

A thatched interior roof, soft blue walls, a wavy white counter and nautical decor make S.E.A. Hut a beachy oasis amid a commercial stretch of Elk Grove. Mora Som’s Southeast Asian restaurant at 9655 Elk Grove Florin Road, Suite 3 is the sister concept to Taste of Angkor in South Sacramento (a third sister, S.E.A. Bowl, closed in April).

S.E.A. Hut’s specialties are Lao, Cambodian, Vietnamese and Thai dishes, with a bit of American influence. Happy hour deals on loaded fries and Thai teas last from 3-6 p.m. during weekdays and all day for local students.

Som’s two surviving restaurants might be the only places in the region where one can find prahok ktis ($13), a Cambodian dip served with cucumber, lettuce and small, circular green Thai eggplant. S.E.A. Hut uses ground chicken instead of the more common minced pork, but gets lots of flavor from prahok (fermented fish paste), optional bird’s eye chilis and kroeung, a lemongrass-y spice paste ubiquitous in Cambodian cooking.

Kroeung also served as the glaze for S.E.A. Hut’s beef skewers ($10.50 for five), which were a bit tough. A Lao crispy fried rice salad called nam khao ($12), on the other hand, was bright and interesting, its lime juice and peanuts running up against pieces of fermented sausage that seemed to have strings of tripe dangling off them.

Lao soups such as khao piek ($11) are worth checking out, too. A thick, almost goopy stew with tapioca noodles, shredded chicken, fried onions and quail eggs, it might be a little heavy for super-hot summer days but would be great with a little cloud cover.

I’m now posting Sacramento food and drink content to Instagram under the handle @egeleats. Follow along for more bites and drinks that don’t make it into my weekly newsletter!

Openings & Closings

• Argentina native Ulises Lespade has closed Sacramento’s best-known empanada truck, Che’s Urban Eats, he announced in a social media post. Primarily stationed in midtown’s Ice Blocks development in 2021, Che’s served savory pastries to area customers for six years.
• The Rancho Cordova iteration of Roostarz Hot Chicken opens Friday at 10750 Olson Drive. Look for sliders stuffed with Nashville-style chicken, just like at Roostarz’ original El Dorado Hills Town Center location.
• La Mini Birrieria hosted its grand opening June 4 at 2682 Northgate Blvd. in South Natomas after popping up around the region for several years. You can find its Michoacán-style birria de res in quesabirria tacos and tortas, with churro-flavored cheesecake for dessert.