Prunella DeVille

The calendar year 2000 was a simpler time – With the early days of the new millennium came promise and optimism. And among the few who would dare to dream the big dream were those who promoted the prune. The dried fruit, woefully misunderstood, relegated to the nation’s seniors and/or their constipated brethren, was about to receive a $10 Million makeover. The idea was to update the chronically unsexy prune into the hip, current, youthful dried plum.

Nine years into the experiment, the dried plum’s handlers collectively known as Pruners, aren’t exactly poised to declare victory. Sure some packaging might have been redesigned and the marketing style sheets may have been revised but few consumers have made the switch. Considering people have been using separate words – ‘plum’ for fresh kind and ‘prune’ for the dried variety since about 1350; well, 9 years into the rebranding, it might not be time to admit defeat either – give it a century or so before calling it a failure.

Personally, I wouldn’t worry so much about what prunes were called and instead spend the energy promoting the prune’s qualities to food enthusiasts. The fresh fruit is pretty good, the dried fruit is amazing: 50% sugar, 5% acid – it is all sweet and sour, similar to the flavor profile of Thai Food. Besides concentrating its flavors during the drying process, prunes also undergo Maillard browning, a caramelization of sugars that develops hundreds of flavors, phenols & esters along with antioxidants and brown colored hues.

It is an enzymatic reaction that produces the same result as grilling does – generating a rich flavor, meaty/umami on the tastebuds. This transformation is a taste cooks and food scientists alike work very hard to develop. So much so that prunes are used industrially as a flavor stabilizer in ground meat. More traditionally, prunes are added to stews and sauces to help keep flavors vibrant and fresh.

In the Saucykitchen, prunes are added while reducing demi-glace. Occasionally roasted with chicken and rosemary; always cooked with pot roast and red wine and generally chopped up with sausage, caraway and kraut for stuffed cabbage. In less lean times prunes are poached in sugar and preserved in Armagnac and kept in a glass jar in the fridge. Both the liquor and the fruit, which reconstituted looks amazingly like a fresh plum wait to be added to dinner and desserts. Especially good in chopped up in brownies and when paired with custard based sauces – just sayin’, I know no one actually craves a prune with vanilla scented pastry cream but in profiteroles or over shortbread, you’d be surprised how satisfying it is.

The phrase, dried plum, seems to be the type of result that happens when the people who promote a product hold it in contempt. I’ll take a good old prune in day of the week.

Pears and separately - cooking with Lavender next week.