Peach Melba Day

Peach Melba (this version appears to have slivered almonds, which is not necessarily in the specs.) Robbie Sproule / flickr / 2005 / CC BY 2.0

The 13th of January is Peach Melba Day.

Peach Melba is actually very easy to prepare: it is peaches with vanilla ice cream, drizzled with a raspberry sauce.

You could make some at home, or dine out at a restaurant that offers it as a dessert today.

If you’re in Australia or New Zealand, you might be able to use fresh local peaches for this. If you’re in the Northern Hemisphere, there’s always imported, or canned.

See also: Melba Toast Day, Peaches

#NationalPeachMelbaDay #PeachMelbaDay

History

The dish was created in 1890 by Auguste Escoffier.

He named it for Australian opera singer Dame Nellie Melba.

Her name was actually “Helen Nellie Porter Mitchell”, but “Peach Helen Nellie Porter Mitchell” might not slip off the tongue as easily

He served the dessert in a swan-shaped ice sculpture.

The first print mention that CooksInfo is aware of for Peach Melba Day occurred in January 2015, when a Senior Center Activities column listed Peach Melba Day being observed on Tuesday, 13th January of that year:

“Tuesday. Salsburg: 9 a.m., community breakfast: peaches and pancakes; National Peach Melba Day; 11 a.m., poetry at work: writing poems; 1 p.m., money bingo; cards; Wii; word puzzles; socialization.” ^[1]Senior Center Activities. Indiana, Pennsylvania: Indiana Gazette. 11 January 2015. Page B-3, col. 1.