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 P
Dorset
L E N T Y 
The Vital Ingredi ent
Plums
S
8
Don’t be a plum – enjoy the juiciest,
most versatile stone fruit before they go out of season
ome foods go in and out of fashion. Avocados, the dinner party
favourite of the 1980s, slipped out of favour before the Instagram
trend of sharing snaps of the mashed fruit on toast took off this
decade. Now they’re everywhere; except the supermarket, that
is – their popularity having contributed to a global shortage. The plum,
however, is a keeper. Archaeologists have discovered evidence of plums
at neolithic settlements, while the Chinese philosopher Confucius wrote
about the stoned fruits in 479 BCE, although he left out the bit about
them going so well with crispy duck.
Today, plums are the second most cultivated fruit in the world – only
beaten to the top of the league by apples. It’s easy to see why. Not only are
they the juiciest drupe in the stone fruit family, but they are so versatile –
great eaten raw, in tarts, cakes, in salads and even with fatty meats.
There are so many different types, too. The English favourite, the
yellow and red-skinned Victoria Plum, is good to eat raw when left to
ripen in the fruit bowl, as are the yellow Black Amber variety, while the
tarter Mirabelle are great for cooking with. That’s not to say you can’t
cook up a kilo of Victoria plums – even unripe fruits can be softened and
sweetened in a hot pan with sugar and honey; the resulting compote is
wonderful stirred into yogurt or rice pudding, served alongside ice cream
or simply spread onto some good bread.
In many ways, plums are the perfect English fruit – while strawberries
are fine when the sun shines, these late-summer bloomers can be enjoyed
in a sorbet on a hot late-summer day, or in a comforting crumble when
it’s pouring with rain. The aforementioned crispy duck with plum sauce
isn’t just for Chinese restaurants, either – you can easily make your own
by cooking up plums with red wine vinegar, soy sauce, garlic and ginger.
Indeed, ginger is one of the plum’s pals, but almonds are its best
buddies– sliced fruits are a good topper for a frangipane tart, while
ground and sliced almonds should be added to your crumble mix to
scatter over late-season plums (see recipe), the sort we’re eating right
about now. Plums never go out of fashion, but sadly they do go out of
season, and October is the last month for these fabulous fruits; savour
them while you still can.
Plum and Almond
Crumble
(Serves 4)
Ingredients
600g plums
1 tbsp golden caster sugar
1 tbsp clear honey
A few drops of almond essence
90g plain flour
60g unsalted butter
60g ground almonds
60g golden caster sugar
Flaked almonds
Method
1. Stone the plums and slice them into quarters.
Heat in a pan for 4–5 minutes with the golden
caster sugar and honey. Add a few drops of almond
essence and pile the lot into a pie dish.
2. Rub the butter and flour together with your fingers
until the mix resembles breadcrumbs. Then add the
almonds and sugar.
3. Top the fruit with a generous layer of crumble
mixture and then scatter flaked almonds over the
top. Bake in the oven at 200°c for 30 minutes. Serve
with ice cream.
He stuck in his thumb and pulled out a plum...
Ripe, preserved, dried or roasted – there’s no end to this versatile fruit’s tasty talents.
Gently squeeze a plum to see if it’s
ripe – if it yields a little, it’s ready
to eat.
Preserve your plums in a jam or
chutney and you can enjoy them all
year around.
Prunes are dried