Best Malatya Dried Sekerpare Apricots Golden 250g

These dried apricots are sold as the Şekerpare type, a sweet, soft-fleshed apricot variety associated with Malatya. They have a light golden-orange colour and a plump, tender bite, and the label grades them Class Extra, Size 4 and marks them as made in Türkiye. The fruit looks smooth and translucent, noticeably paler than the dark sun-dried type. They taste mild and honeyed, with less tang than the brown apricots.

In Turkish cooking dried apricots like these go into hoşaf, the chilled stewed-fruit drink served after a meal, into rice pudding and semolina helva, and into the stuffed apricot dessert made with kaymak and chopped walnuts or pistachios. They are equally at home snacked on with tea, chopped into muesli or yoghurt, or simmered with sugar and a squeeze of lemon into homemade jam.

Golden dried apricots of this kind are commonly treated with sulphur dioxide to keep their bright colour, and the ingredient line in the pack photo is not legible, so if you avoid sulphites or have other sensitivities, read the label on the pack itself before eating. Store the apricots in a cool, dry place in a closed container, and use them within a few weeks of opening. If they feel firm, soak briefly in warm water before cooking.