This week we nerd out on Santa Rosa Plums (available June - August). won’t you be my neighbor? After writing about the mysterious world of eggplants, I was not sure what fruit or vegetable to geek out on next. I went on an urban hike with my husband and our dog for inspiration and explored some of the neighborhoods in South Berkeley. It was a perfect sunny day and we walked past and under some prolific apricot and plum trees. The hundreds of fruit on these trees challenged the structural integrity of each branch—nature’s engineering somehow allowed the branches to bend just enough to support the fruit without snapping and breaking. The abundance of fruit tempted me to snag one of the apricots or plums but it didn’t feel right to take without asking so I left them alone.
I love plum clafoutis! Nothing says summer more gracefully than this classic pudding. Such an exciting season, a pageant of stone fruits, even hybrids between apricots and plums! I learned a lot about the history of plums, and I was particularly intrigued by the Japanese American trade treaty in 1858. I know this agreement as an unequal trade deal that set the pretext for Western invasion of Japan. A lot of the food we have access to today is globalized as a result of exploration and colonization... "Food has been always political."
So many hybrids! Pluots, plumcots, apriums, peacharines even! I also found the Japanese chapter in the plum book fascinating and could’ve written a whole post on the 1858 Harris treaty (maybe I should?). Food and politics are inseparable indeed. Every time we eat, we vote and we still have a lot of work to do to make both way more accessible.
Wow, the history is amazing! and the thought of how political these kind plums can be! interesting. Farmers through hundreds of years have worked so hard to allow us the enjoyment of the veggies and fruits we love... for me patents are a complicated conversation. In these posts I find always the most amazing recipes and that clafoutis has my mouth watering!! OMG!!!! I PROMIS I will make it. it's a good excuse to make an exception to the no-sugar low-carb nonsense I sometimes think of submitting myself to... Life is too short and food is too delicious. Come on Clafoutis!
It's starting to feel like every piece of fruit or vegetable is a different flavor of microcosm of our world... to quote my favorite artist at the moment, "la vida es mas compleja de lo que aparece." (Drexler) You'll enjoy that clafoutis, it's worth it and you'll probably get more health benefits from the joy of eating it than from the regret of avoiding it! Embrace the clafoutis :D
Please don't forget to mention that Burbank was a eugenicist! Especially right now, it's a striking omission. I love Santa Rosa plums but abhor racism.
I agree with you completely, which is why I mentioned his support for the eugenics movement in the post (and provided links). I was surprised to learn that other prominent figures like Margaret Sanger supported eugenics as well.
Nice! I shared on Facebook. That doesn't break the FB ad boycott does it?? ;-)
I think I told you that I made a plum tart a few weeks ago with a walnut crust? That was good. I also made some quick plum jam and roasted the plums first--that was REALLY good.
Thank you Elea! I don't remember you telling me about that tart but it sounds DELICIOUS! Yesterday I was walking around my neighborhood and a neighbor had a box of plums outside, I took a few handfuls and plan on making a quick plum jam once those are nice and ripe. Now I know I'll roast them first, thanks for the tip! Did you just do sugar and lemon juice after?
I love plum clafoutis! Nothing says summer more gracefully than this classic pudding. Such an exciting season, a pageant of stone fruits, even hybrids between apricots and plums! I learned a lot about the history of plums, and I was particularly intrigued by the Japanese American trade treaty in 1858. I know this agreement as an unequal trade deal that set the pretext for Western invasion of Japan. A lot of the food we have access to today is globalized as a result of exploration and colonization... "Food has been always political."
Wow, thanks for that excellent point...
So many hybrids! Pluots, plumcots, apriums, peacharines even! I also found the Japanese chapter in the plum book fascinating and could’ve written a whole post on the 1858 Harris treaty (maybe I should?). Food and politics are inseparable indeed. Every time we eat, we vote and we still have a lot of work to do to make both way more accessible.
Wow, the history is amazing! and the thought of how political these kind plums can be! interesting. Farmers through hundreds of years have worked so hard to allow us the enjoyment of the veggies and fruits we love... for me patents are a complicated conversation. In these posts I find always the most amazing recipes and that clafoutis has my mouth watering!! OMG!!!! I PROMIS I will make it. it's a good excuse to make an exception to the no-sugar low-carb nonsense I sometimes think of submitting myself to... Life is too short and food is too delicious. Come on Clafoutis!
It's starting to feel like every piece of fruit or vegetable is a different flavor of microcosm of our world... to quote my favorite artist at the moment, "la vida es mas compleja de lo que aparece." (Drexler) You'll enjoy that clafoutis, it's worth it and you'll probably get more health benefits from the joy of eating it than from the regret of avoiding it! Embrace the clafoutis :D
Please don't forget to mention that Burbank was a eugenicist! Especially right now, it's a striking omission. I love Santa Rosa plums but abhor racism.
I agree with you completely, which is why I mentioned his support for the eugenics movement in the post (and provided links). I was surprised to learn that other prominent figures like Margaret Sanger supported eugenics as well.
Sorry if I skimmed some bits and missed it.
No worries whatsoever, thanks for getting in touch and for reading!
Nice! I shared on Facebook. That doesn't break the FB ad boycott does it?? ;-)
I think I told you that I made a plum tart a few weeks ago with a walnut crust? That was good. I also made some quick plum jam and roasted the plums first--that was REALLY good.
Thank you Elea! I don't remember you telling me about that tart but it sounds DELICIOUS! Yesterday I was walking around my neighborhood and a neighbor had a box of plums outside, I took a few handfuls and plan on making a quick plum jam once those are nice and ripe. Now I know I'll roast them first, thanks for the tip! Did you just do sugar and lemon juice after?
We didn't have any citrus, so just sugar.
Bet that roasted plum jam didn’t last long :)