National Peach Melba Day

National Peach Melba Day is on January 13th in the US.

Peach Melba is a dessert made from peaches (where part of the name comes from), vanilla ice cream and raspberry sauce. Peaches are a fruit with a long history of cultivation, with records of the trees dating back more than 3,000 years in China.

The "Melba" portion of the name comes from Dame Nellie Melba, an Australian opera singer and soprano. In the late 19th century, at the Savoy Hotel in London, French chef Auguste Escoffier, created the dish in her honour. Dame Nellie was performing at Covent Garden in the opera Lohengrin by Wagner. At a party held by the Duke of Orléans, the chef created a centrepiece and the new dessert, which was displayed using an ice sculpture of a swan.

For the opening of the Carlton Hotel in 1900, Escoffier created a new version in which the ice swan was omitted and in which the peaches were topped with raspberry purée.

Peach Melba is not the only dish named after the singer; Melba toast is another.