Plums and Plums?

[neotoma]

What is the possible difference between "purple plums" and "plums"? I have a recipe that calls for both, and for the life of me I can't imagine what the difference is.

Comments

[clara-swift.livejournal.com]

There are also yellow plums... perhaps it means those? Wouldn't think it would make a difference if you use all purple though.

[neotoma.livejournal.com]

Well, if they meant yellow plums, wouldn't the recipe say so. Literally, it's just "purple plums" and "plums". Which is a wee bit confusing.

[murasaki99.livejournal.com]

One recipe calling for both? Is it a period or middle ages recipe? There might have been regional cultivars of plums and the person writing the recipe was making a distinction based on knowledge of color or taste variations of the regional varieties. Nowadays, you have purple, black, red, and yellow plums. I've made lovely jam from the yellow variety.

[neotoma.livejournal.com]

It's an Elizabethan recipe, but updated and tested for modern cooks. The original mentions 'damisons' and 'corrans', which I think are the plums, but I'm not sure.

[clara-swift.livejournal.com]

Damsons are small purple plums... I know that much as I have a damson tree just outside my back door :o)

[twistedchick]

I think those are two varieties of plums -- damson and corran -- but I couldn't tell you which is what. I think both were supposed to be common in hedgerows.

[neotoma.livejournal.com]

So, small purple plums and regular purple plums?

I hate it when cooks don't add notes for weird ingridients...

[neotoma.livejournal.com]

Ha! I'll bring the cookbook tomorrow, and you can explain the weird stuff ;)

[clara-swift.livejournal.com]

Heh... look at this:

http://staff-www.uni-marburg.de/~gloning/1594-ghh.htm

It could be small purple and normal yellow or it could be damsons and normal sized purple plums. Google is not proving very useful!

[clara-swift.livejournal.com]

Try this:

http://www.uga.edu/fruit/plum.htm

[neotoma.livejournal.com]

You want a *really* frustrating cookbook, look up Apicus and Dining in Imperial Rome.

I mean, who cooks a *crane* in the first place?

[clara-swift.livejournal.com]

Mmmmm, roast crane ;oP

[nugatorytm.livejournal.com]

I believe the difference between purple plums and regular plums is the color of the flesh inside. Normal plums have yellow flesh, while purple plums have dark purplish-red flesh under the skin. I have no idea of the names of the different types of plums, however. I'd ask your green grocer, or try a farmer's market.

[monsterbrain.livejournal.com]

If there's a bustle in your hedgerow, don't be alarmed now.

[neotoma.livejournal.com]

If they wanted red-fleshed plums, they could have said. :P

[murasaki99.livejournal.com]

A crane? Um... I would think that might taste *very* fishy. I'll bet it was cooked purely as an asthetic table ornament. Ugh. That's like the pies with live birds in the shell the would fly out when the Lord or Lady cut the shell - the divertissement, wasn't it?

[murasaki99.livejournal.com]

Try medieval bread-baking. The modern folks who want to try are left with guessing on techniques because the baker's guilds taught orally and left almost NO notes. I did find a good article by a gentleman who has scoped out enough details through research and experimentation to make some very nice "fine white loaves".