I grew up in the middle of the last century loving the unique sweetness of Plums. Enjoyed the bite, mouth-feel and refreshing taste of the “pulp”. But now I’m wondering if I was living in an alternate Universe back then…
About two weeks ago I bought two black plums at our grocer. Out of the fruit bin, they were hard as rocks. Thought they would ripen quickly on our kitchen utility table. Many days later, one of the plums did go soft. And it was delicious. The second one never softened, but I tried it the day after the first. It was bitter! and still rock hard. It went into the trash after one bite.
Try number 2 started last Monday–this time with Red Plums. Six plus days later, the two I bought are still as hard as unused baseballs. Anyone know if there is a secret to getting plums to “ripe”?
I have given up on supermarket plums for that reason. Ripening in a closed paper bag on the counter occasionally worked but did not prove reliable enough for me. Now I only buy plums and other stone fruits at farm stands, farmers markets, or greengrocers when I can be sure the fruit is local.
The hard ones can be used in a fruit compote. I add dried apricots, white wine, and honey. Nuke or simmer untll the plums are soft. Add golden raisins once the syrup is cool (otherwise they swell into grapes).
No, they don’t.
At this point i only buy fruit that is sturdy and ready to eat from regular supermarkets, grapes, oranges, etc or fruit that is already ripe or will be in a day.
Entirely too many experiences to recount of fruit that went from hard to rotten or just squishy not actually ripe.
I actually just bought a few fantastic italian plums (those longer oblong shaped ones) at a farmers market the other day- they were certainly more expensive but also delicious and 100xs better.
