White Peach Perfect Purée frozen puree for Bellinis?

I'm a big fan of sparkling wine, especially prosecco, and I dig mamosas... so when I heard about Bellinis (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bellini_(cocktail)) I decided I have to try these. I can order a 40 oz frozen container of the puree from Amazon for $25, but it's $30 for shipping and a $40 surcharge for buying less than 3 jars!

Anyone know where to find this in the Chicagoland area? If not, anyone want to split a shipment of a few jars? I live by Armitage/Western but could get it shipped to my work downtown (Wacker & Madison).

Rob

For two or three bucks you can get a bag of frozen peaches at Jewel.

No, they're not white. But they taste the same.

I love Bellinis, they're a much better drink than mimosas, but it's crazy to spend about $20 per Bellini on them.

I agree with Mike. I've made Bellinis with regular yellow peaches and they taste just as good. Trader Joe's frozen peaches are pretty good, I've found, though I haven't tried them lately. In a pinch, I have also made bellinis with peach nectar found at some of the ethnic markets. Whole foods also has an organic peach nectar that IIRC doesn't have added fruit juice sweetener.

And make a note in your calendar next summer buy some peaches at the peak of the season from the farmer's market and freeze your own puree.

I like making "bellinis" with pureed whatever's-in-season fruit. In the spring I cook some strawberries with sugar and puree that. In the summer it's the traditional peaches. A few weeks ago, I cooked up some pears with sugar and a squeeze of lemon and pureed that. It all works quite well, imo.

I can't imagine paying anything like the prices above for some fruit puree.

Mike G wrote:For two or three bucks you can get a bag of frozen peaches at Jewel.

No, they're not white. But they taste the same.

I love Bellinis, they're a much better drink than mimosas, but it's crazy to spend about $20 per Bellini on them.

I don't know that it's fair to say they taste the same. I've always thought white peaches had a much more delicate, less peachy flavor. I suppose that could be the color doing funny things to my brain, but I don't think so.

That said, I agree with the suggestion.

If you're hell-bent on ordering in the puree, though, it sounds like Amazon is selling Perfect Puree of Napa. If you order directly from their website, the same shipping and minimums apply, but they have smaller 15oz jars available. I can vouch for the quality (we used them for our wedding).

Wait a minute -- I thought bellinis were those little pancake thingys that got that gal from Chicago kicked off last season's Top Chef.

Matt wrote:Wait a minute -- I thought bellinis were those little pancake thingys that got that gal from Chicago kicked off last season's Top Chef.

Awesome.

2 brands of sweetened fruit puree that are commonly used in Bellinis are Boiron & Sicoly. To my knowledge, these are generally available on a foodservice basis only. I like but don't love Perfect Puree's products -- they tend to have more ingredients added to them than the other 2 brands I mentioned above -- but they are the best (i.e. easiest) place for a consumer to order.

=R=

Perfect Puree
Napa, CA 94558
(707) 261-5100

I mean this question genuinely, though I have a tough time hiding my sarcastic nature. We are all talking about fruit puree, right? You know, like pureed fruit. i.e., cook fruit, put in blender, press button kind of stuff? Pretty much the same as the stuff made by Gerber?

Seriously, am I missing something? How can it be so complicated to get pureed fruit? Is there something special about the fruit puree from these far-away, expensive mail order companies?

2 brands of sweetened fruit puree that are commonly used in Bellinis are Boiron & Sicoly. To my knowledge, these are generally available on a foodservice basis only

A whole range of Sicoly purees including white peach are available at lepicerie.com. $13.80 per kg, but you have to buy an insulated container and I believe have it shipped overnight. I've bought a number of things from them, but not purees.

http://www.lepicerie.com/catalog/product_273100_Peach_White_Puree.html

Seriously, am I missing something? How can it be so complicated to get pureed fruit? Is there something special about the fruit puree from these far-away, expensive mail order companies?

I think it's sort of similar to why people seek out San Marzano tomatoes for pizza rather than using the supermarket brand.

Kennyz wrote:I mean this question genuinely, though I have a tough time hiding my sarcastic nature. We are all talking about fruit puree, right? You know, like pureed fruit. i.e., cook fruit, put in blender, press button kind of stuff? Pretty much the same as the stuff made by Gerber?

Seriously, am I missing something? How can it be so complicated to get pureed fruit? Is there something special about the fruit puree from these far-away, expensive mail order companies?

On the foodservice and industrial side, it's all about standardization, which is much harder to achieve when using seasonal and highly variable raw fruit. Customers (especially in the mainstream) want their restaurant/bar food to taste the same every time. This is the primary advantage of the pre-made purees, which incorporate a host of additional ingredients in the quest to maintain a taste profile (of an agriculturally-based product) that is far less variable.

=R=

Wow guys, thanks for the great informative replies... Can anyone recommend a good restaurant in Chicago to try a Bellini at?

Rob

Quartino's has a very nice Bellini - a nice bar, and decent italian inspired food too.

http://www.lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=6711&hilit=quartino is one of the forums here that Quartino's has been discussed in

RomanticCynic wrote:Quartino's has a very nice Bellini - a nice bar, and decent italian inspired food too.

http://www.lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=6711&hilit=quartino is one of the forums here that Quartino's has been discussed in

I know others who like bellini at Quartino, but to me it is way too sweet and artificial-tasting. The proportion of fake peach puree to prosecco is way off (not nearly enough prosecco).

I should disclose that I am fresh off a trip to Venice, where I had a perfect bellini at Harry's Bar, where the drink was invented. So my opinions may be skewed.

Kennyz wrote:I should disclose that I am fresh off a trip to Venice, where I had a perfect bellini at Harry's Bar, where the drink was invented. So my opinions may be skewed.

I'd ask why you didn't have a few, but I've seen their prices

R L has excellent Bellini's