Fruit recipes

THE PLUM (Common Garden Plum: Prunus domestica: Amygdalacee) HE Prunus or plum, considered as an individual fruit, has again under its division various kinds of plums, all of which are supposed to have originated from the Sloe or Blackthorn, or Prunus spinosa, from which the Bullace (Prunus insititia) is considered the next step, a second or middle stage. Concerning this, as with the peach, there is still a little ambiguity, since the three are in many ways as different as in other points the resemblance is marked. The red, cherry-plum, or Myrobalan, is thought to be next of kin, onward, from the Bullace. The plum has been found wild nearly all over Asia and from Asia its introduction into Russia and other parts of Europe was evidently very early. The damson plums are said to take their name from Damascus where they were first known. The Beach Plum (Prunus maritima), and the wild red and yellow plum (Prunus Americana), with the Chickasaw (P. Chicasa)—all of them wild American species—furnish variety of form and colour rivalled only by the domestic, cultivated species all over the world. Their rich smoothness often tempts the palate before the fruit is properly ‘ripened, which sometimes leads to the belief that it is the plum which is at fault. The traditional “sugar plum” and the fetching rhyme of Jack Horner point to an ancient delight in the fruit which gradually attached itself asa general term to sweetmeats or stood as the symbol of all sugared and particularly mysterious goodies. The leaves of the sloe are sometimes steeped to be used as tea, and the fruit, which is so astringent as to stop the flow of blood, is, when unripe, not infrequently pickled, resulting in an excellent resemblance to olives. Prunes, the dried form of certain varieties of plums, are as food the most valuable of all of them. Over a century ago Richard Brook declared them ‘‘both food and physick” and such they are to-day. A German chemist, Bonneberg, has extracted crystallisable sugar from prunes equal to cane sugar. With their large amount of nitrogenous elements and great percentage of sugar the nourishing qualities of prunes are indisputable and virtually unsurpassed among fruits and, in the sense of being fine for the nerves, may be termed ‘‘brain food.’”” They are laxative, giving this property to water in which they may be stewed and which, therefore, is sometimes used as a vehicle for or addition to purgative medicines. Like other dried fruits, prunes should be pretty well softened—-soaked or stewed— that they may be thoroughly masticated and digested, for they are a concentrated food and their skins of a texture requiring deliberate processes whether of softening or chewing. Like other plums, or plums in less mature stages, prunes are apt to cause unpleasant sensations of griping when eaten in any great quantity at one time. In Hungary a brandy is distilled from prunes called Zwetschenbrannwein, which contains about 40 per cent. of alcohol. In parts of France a strong alcoholic beverage is distilled from plums by mixing honey and flour with them; Kirschwasser is sometimes manufactured from wild plums; a pleasant wine is made from various kinds—wild or cultivated—and where apples are added in process of fermentation a strong liquor results, PLUM SOUP Make with large sweet plums, as for cherry soup, or use part plums and part cherries. (See Fruit Soups, Introductory Recipes.) PLUM SALADS Greengages make one of the prettiest of fruit salads. They may be used with bananas—halved or cubed—with good effect. Sprinkle powdered sugar over and let stand an hour or under before serving, or marinate in olive oil, flavoured with a cordial or ¢queur, or use the cordial alone, serving with whipped cream. (See Introductory Recipes: for Fruit Salads.) WILD PLUM MARMALADE