Malatya Apricots

Malatya produces the large majority of the world's dried apricots - the plain around the city is covered in orchards, and the crop dominates the regional economy entirely. Harvest is in July: fruit is picked, halved and stoned by hand, then laid out on the ground and on frames in the sun for several days, so during that month the fields, yards, roofs and any flat surface for kilometres around are covered in orange fruit drying in the heat. Most commercial dried apricots are treated with sulphur dioxide, which keeps them bright orange; the untreated ones dry to brown and are sold as such, sweeter and considerably better, and are the ones worth buying. The Malatya apricot carries a geographical indication. The city's kayısı pazarı, the apricot bazaar, trades the crop and sells to visitors, and the fruit turns up in everything from jam to pestil sheets to a local sweet made with the kernels.

What you actually see

• The drying fields - orange fruit laid out across the plain.
• The hand processing - halving and stoning at the orchards.
• The apricot bazaar - the trading market in the city.
• The two kinds - bright sulphured and brown untreated.

When to go

July for harvest and drying, when the plain is at its most striking. Dried apricots are sold year-round at the bazaar.

Honest expectations

Orchards are private working farms - buy at the bazaar rather than wandering in. Bright orange fruit is sulphur-treated; ask for kükürtsüz if you want untreated. Malatya in July is very hot.

Nearby

Arslantepe and Battalgazi are on the plain; Levent valley is west.