Plum

This is Just to Say

I have eaten
the plums
that were in
the icebox

and which
you were probably
saving
for breakfast

Forgive me
they were delicious
so sweet
and so cold

William Carlos Williams

The annual visit to the music festival I attend is marked for me by the alleyway of Bullace plum trees. Usually, and especially in hot weather, our footsteps echo to the drone of a thousand wasps, drowning and drowsy from an excess of plum juice. Too tired to move far, they crawl on the ground from one prize plum to another, and it’s easy enough to work around them, and claim any plums still whole and ripe for eating.

This year, we were too late. The wasps, no doubt sated and fat were long gone and the last plums lay rotting on the ground.

The Bullace trees near my flat were until recently still full of hard, bad tempered looking fruit that threatened never to ripen. Finally a few weeks ago, they gave up their harvest.

Bullace plums are divine. Small and sweet enough when ripe to be crammed into the mouth in one go; the juices pop and dissolve, and dribble down one’s chin. Not good travellers, any I bring home are destined for preserving. I’ve just finished the last of the 2010 jam, some of the best I’ve ever made.

Out of the 2 kilos of plums I gathered, I made 3 bottles of plum and vanilla cordial and four jars of jam.

For the cordial, wash and pick over your fruit and discard any that show signs of mould. Put in a large pan with half the amount of water and cook gently until it breaks down. Skim if necessary.  Put into a muslin lined plastic sieve and stand over a bowl.

I learnt the hard way earlier this year that the key to cordial making is patiently letting the fruit drip once it’s cooked down. Show offs will be bringing out their jelly bags. Don’t puree or push the fruit or it will go cloudy. Measure the resulting juice and add sugar to a proportion of approximately 700g for each litre of juice. I never have exactly the right amount, and guess it. All you have to do is warm the juice with the sugar until it has dissolved and bottle. Make sure your bottles have been cleaned and heated in a warm oven first. Use a funnel. Another lesson hard learnt. This year I’ve added vanilla in two ways, via vanilla pods with the fruit for the cordial and vanilla sugar with the jam. The cordial has a more pronounced vanilla flavour.

Because I want to keep the cordial over the winter I add a tiny amount of  crushed campden tablet, (usually the ratio is one tablet per gallon of liquid). They’re used in winemaking for sterilisation and preserving, but it’s your call.

Of the larger commercial plums I love Gages for flavour and appearance. There’s something ethereal and beautiful about green, semi transparent fruit. I love the way sweet and subtle gages change colour as they ripen.  They make the best crumble, and upside down cake, especially with a generous handful of ground almonds in the mix and they’re wonderful roasted to bring out their flavour.

Some fruits are better at room temperature. Not plums. Straight from the chill of the fridge, there’s nothing better on a warm Indian summer morning than an ice cold plate of plums for breakfast.

Damsons never stick around at markets; rumours fly, will there be damsons today, as jam makers hover and queue. Damsons make one of the richest flavoured jams and the best, deepest flavoured ice cream and sorbets. Never mind raspberry, try a damson ripple ice cream this year.

 

The varieties of plums at our farmers markets are often never seen in supermarkets. Plums for sale can include:

Cambridge gage, Opel, Victoria, Czar, Early Rivers, Old Green Gage, Merryweather damson, Marjorie’s Seedling and many others.  Each has its own taste and personality. Some are better for cooking, some for eating greedily on the spot, and going back for more.

Plum season lasts until early October, weather depending.