Dried Apricot

Dried apricot is a chewy, orange-to-amber half of apricot fruit that has been dehydrated. It tastes sweet-tart with a dense, pliant bite and slightly tacky surface, plumps readily when soaked, and holds shape in cooking; sold as halves or diced, with unsulfured fruit darker in color.

Drying apricots began in Central Asia and the Middle East and spread along trade routes; today major producers include Turkey, Iran, and Central Asia, with smaller output from California. Modern methods range from sun-drying to tunnel drying, and some fruit is sulfured to preserve a vivid orange color favored in many markets.