Perfection finally showed up at my house last week. I ate it over the kitchen sink.

It took 64 years to find. That hardly seems fair, but peaches don’t operate on fairness. They’re ready when they’re ready, stay that way for a brief minute, and then start heading in the other direction.

This one was perfect.

It was a Chilton County, Alabama, peach, and I ate it unpeeled. The juice ran down my face and arm. There’s no dignified way to eat a truly ripe peach. If you can eat one without leaning forward and making a mess, it probably wasn’t ready.

My childhood peaches mostly came from a can.

My mother was a single working mom. She worked all day, came home and got supper on the table. Canned peaches were a favorite, and after the fruit was gone, I drank every drop of the syrup from the bowl.

Fresh peaches didn’t really get my attention until my grandmother’s homemade peach ice cream. Every June, she’d make it on her back porch with an old ice cream freezer, plenty of ice and rock salt, and my brother and me asking every 45 seconds whether it was ready.

Fresh peach ice cream still tastes like summer.

Over the past 20 years, Chilton County peaches have become my hands-down favorite. I’ve never spent any real time there. I may have driven through once on the way to Montgomery. Still, I feel like I know the place because I know what comes out of its orchards.

Georgia calls itself the Peach State. South Carolina grows more peaches, which has led to a long-running dispute involving statistics, state pride, roadside stands and people looking for something to argue about when college football isn’t enough. They can settle it at the state line with two roadside stands, a pocketknife and a panel of Baptist ladies.

For me, the winner is Chilton County, Alabama.

The next morning, I went back to the neighborhood grocery store where I’d bought the basket. A display of Chilton County peaches sat right inside the front door. I bought another basket.

This is what people do after they win something. They go back and try it again.

Onward.

BACK-PORCH SOUTHERN PEACH ICE CREAM

Yield: About 2 quarts
Plan ahead: The base should chill overnight.

Ingredients:
Roasted peaches
4 cups peeled, pitted, and sliced very ripe peaches, divided
1/2 cup granulated sugar, divided
1/3 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1 tablespoon Steen’s 100% Pure Cane Syrup
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice, divided
1/2 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

Custard
2 cups heavy cream
1 cup whole milk
5 large egg yolks
1/2 cup cultured buttermilk, well chilled
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla bean paste
Scant 1/8 teaspoon almond extract
Small pinch of kosher salt

Directions:
■ Roast the peaches. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Place 3 cups of the peaches in a 10- or 12-inch cast-iron skillet. Add ¼ cup of the granulated sugar, the brown sugar, cane syrup, 1 tablespoon of the lemon juice, lemon zest, and ¼ teaspoon salt. Cook over medium heat for 2 to 3 minutes, stirring gently, until the sugar begins to dissolve and the peaches release their juice. Transfer the skillet to the oven. Roast for 25 to 35 minutes, stirring once, until the peaches are very tender and the juices have reduced to the consistency of loose preserves. Mash the peaches, leaving a little texture. Transfer them to a bowl and cool completely.
■ Prepare the fresh peaches. Combine the remaining 1 cup peaches with the remaining ¼ cup granulated sugar and 1 tablespoon lemon juice. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes. Purée or mash the mixture until almost smooth. Small bits are fine, but large chunks will freeze hard.
■ Make the custard. Combine the heavy cream and whole milk in a heavy saucepan. Heat over medium-low heat until steaming and small bubbles begin forming around the edge. Don’t boil. Whisk the egg yolks in a separate bowl. Slowly whisk about 1 cup of the hot cream mixture into the yolks. Pour the warmed yolk mixture back into the saucepan. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until the custard coats the back of a spoon or registers 170°F to 175°F, about 5 to 8 minutes. Immediately strain the custard into a clean bowl. Set the bowl over an ice bath and stir occasionally until the custard has cooled to room temperature.
■ Finish and chill the base. Whisk the chilled buttermilk, vanilla bean paste, almond extract, and pinch of salt into the cooled custard. Stir in the roasted peaches and the fresh peach purée, including all their juices. Cover and refrigerate for at least 6 hours, preferably overnight.
■ Churn. Churn according to the ice-cream maker’s instructions until the ice cream reaches the consistency of thick soft serve. The unchurned base will be close to the capacity of many countertop machines. If the machine holds less than 2 quarts, churn the mixture in two batches. Transfer the ice cream to a freezer-safe container. Press parchment paper or plastic wrap directly onto the surface, cover, and freeze for at least 4 hours.
■ Serve. Let the ice cream sit at room temperature for 5 to 10 minutes before scooping. The first bowl needs nothing else. This is peach ice cream. Let it be peach ice cream.

Robert St. John is a restaurateur, author, enthusiastic traveler, and world-class eater from Hattiesburg, Mississippi. He has spent four decades in the restaurant industry, written 13 books, and written a syndicated newspaper column for more than 24 years. Read more about Robert at robertstjohn.com.