The Stanley plum, which everyone loves to work with, ripens at the end of August. Not only are they fragrant, juicy and pome-rich, but they also make a fantastic dish.
There are many types of plums to taste at the markets, but there are favourites that the sellers know exactly what they are tasting. Since July, markets have been selling “lepotica”, also known as beauty, which is a very fleshy plum with a slightly yellowish skin and less flavour. This is followed by “cacanska rodna”, the fleshy and plump variety, which is also tasty. Also arriving in the last weeks of August is our star, the Stanley, followed in September by the Muscovy in Debrecen. Plums are plentiful, as Hungary's favourable soils produce beautiful fruit, but you just have to choose the right recipe for each.
Plums are a must in hospitality
It's cost-effective, spectacular, tasty and even healthy. It's a real winner in marinades, as a vinegar, pickled, stuffed with garlic as a pickle, and as the base for famous old hard jams. A plum is my personal favourite because, like slow-cooking, it can be made into a delicious dish in seconds. It's rarely seen abroad, so a real Hungarian speciality is plum pie, plum dumpling and the like. It's a dish that the great and the good of the trade are trying to bring back to the menus, not only in summer but all year round. A spicy plum pudding is not only the perfect accompaniment to ice cream, in galettes and cakes, but also with roast meats and as a hot soup on colder days.
Did you know? Raw plums contain fewer minerals than dried plums. 10 dkg of dried plums contain 7 grams of dietary fibre, which includes phosphorus, magnesium, potassium and B vitamins.
When plums are in the best place
“Don't touch it, understand, that's the secret!” I have a recipe for plum jam that I picked up during my collecting days and have treasured ever since. Aunt Irma told me about it, who makes it on her own rack for hours on end. In a commercial kitchen, it is just as easy, as it can be prepared over a steady flame without you even noticing.
A small kitchen, a small rafters, great enthusiasm, and two small wrinkled eyes smiling - that's what I saw when I walked in the door. Aunt Irma's pantry was bursting with not only delicious, but beautiful preserves. I quickly set to work taking notes and then making them at home. Since then, I've been trying to get this recipe out to as wide an audience as possible, because I haven't found a better one since.
It turns out that this jam has a cooking time of 8 hours. I arrived with a large booklet, but the recipe for the jam was shorter than I thought, but the end result was richer. This is the kind of jam that will last for years on a pantry shelf in a clay jar with or without foil.
Old plum jam recipe
Ingredients: 3.5 kg plums, 1 dl vinegar (10%), 0.5 kg granulated sugar
Preparation:
Wash the plums thoroughly, core and halve them. Prepare in a Teflon pan or in a thick-walled enamel pot, so that it doesn't accidentally spill. Pour the vinegar in the bottom of the pan, add the plums, then the sugar and leave to simmer over the lowest heat for 8 hours, first with the lid on, then halfway through, without the lid. Most importantly, whatever the urge, don't stir it once! For the brave ones, I cook at night, but I also cook during the day, so I can follow the whole process, and the result is incredible!#
