By Angela Hartnett
From plum crumble to jam and chutney, we’ve got plenty of plum-packed recipe ideas. British plums are soft-fleshed and loose-stoned and can be divided into two groups: sweet ‘dessert’ varieties such as Avalon and sweet-sour ‘cooking’ plums such as Czar. Out-of-season imported plums belong to a different prunus family that originated in Japan. They are sweet, large, round, firm-fleshed, cling-stoned plums.
Salade Niçoise
Chicken with rice (arroz con pollo)
Quick tomato and basil tart
Spring rolls with crisp oyster mushrooms and dipping sauce
Blood orange tart
Healthy plum crumble
Spiced orange cake with Christmas pudding ice cream
Pumpkin pie
Apple and plum cake with rum caramel sauce
Plum pudding cake
Plum glitter jam
Plum compôte
Fresh plum chutney
Plum leather belts
The British plum season starts in late July with the Opal variety and finishes in mid-to late-September with the Marjorie Seedling. Each variety has a 2-3 week season.
British plums develop an intense flavour when cooked. They make excellent jam, jelly and fruit cheese, but can also be bottled. Strong spices such as star anise, cloves, vanilla, cinnamon and black pepper all taste good with poached plums. Cream and custard based accompaniments such as ice cream or rice pudding balance their flavour. Out-of-season imported plums can be cooked, but are much sweeter and taste best eaten raw.
Article by Sybil Kapoor
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