"plum jam" news and stories

I spent most of June anticipating the 4th of July. It's not that I harbor a particular love for fireworks, crowds or parades. I was looking forward to it because it was was a Friday off from work that I could use to go berry picking. I got up early and drove out to rural New Jersey to Mood's Farm Market to pick blueberries. Sadly, the berries weren't quite as ripe as I would have liked (I imagine they are absolutely perfect today) but I still managed to pick 8 pounds of sweet, spicy and tart berries.

While at the market, I also picked up 2 quarts of tiny plums, half a dozen super-fresh ears of corn, several pounds of new potatoes (destined for a quick trip through the oven with rosemary and garlic), a dozen fresh apple cider donuts (possibly one of the best treats ever created), a whole mess of Kirby cucumbers and half a bushel of small, sweet white peaches. Details about how I used all this wonderful, fresh abundance is after the jump.

Berry jams are probably the most popular in the U.S. When it comes to jams, we rarely consider plums. I love plum jams because they have a unique candy-like sweetness that is tempered by a little acidity and a smooth texture. Below are three types of plums that produce exceptionally one-of-a-kind jams:

Mirabelles: If you have even the slightest sweet tooth, these plums are seriously addictive. Mirabelle jam has dark yellow colored chunks of juicy sweet mirabelle plums. Don't be surprised if you start eating the jam straight from the jar with a spoon. This jam is delicious on buttered toast. These plums are a specialty in the region of Lorraine in France.

Reines Claudes (Greengages): These green wild plums produce a vibrant orange-brownish colored jam. Eating this jam is like eating a decadent confection produced solely for royalty. Reines Claudes are cultivated in the United States, England, and France. The name "Reine Claude" originated from the 16th century in France and refers to queen Claude, the wife of Francis I. Its other name "Greengage" refers to the Gage family that brought the plums from France and cultivated them in England during the 18th century.

Quetsches: They look like large luscious deep purple grapes. Quetsche jam often has a delicate succulent sweet flavor. Quetches come from the regions of Alsace and Lorraine in France where they are used to make desserts and eau-de-vie, clear colorless fruit brandy. Try this dessert at home: Questche plum tart with walnut cream.

I was sitting at my computer yesterday afternoon, mindlessly reading blogs and looking for a little writing inspiration when I picked up a plum that I had gotten from the kitchen just a little while earlier and bit into it. The taste of that particular plum (its brethren are pictured above) transported me back 20+ years and several thousand miles, into the back yard of the house in which my family lived during our Los Angeles years. That house had several plum trees, a really large one in the back and a couple of smaller ones along the side of the house, on the strip of ground that separated our space from the neighbor's.

As a young kid I got a profound sense of pleasure whenever I got the opportunity to pick my own food. It satisfied my longing to be like Laura Ingalls Wilder. My mom often made jam with the plums from those trees, although in those days it was always a little too saucy as she couldn't bring herself to add the sugar required to make it jell. Still, it was always delicious, especially because it came from our yard.

I do love it when a bite of some seemingly ordinary foodstuff gives me the opportunity to travel through time and space. Are there any foods that are similarly evocative for you?

Photo by Marisa McClellan