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FOOD making carbs count
It's a date!
Who knew there was so much to know about dates?
Big ones, small ones - and the mighty Mejhool! By Sue
Marshall
This time of year is full of
preparation for the festive
season, and for winter.
Autumn's glut is over, stewed
into chutneys or preserved into jams,
some vegetables may even have been
pickled in preparation for the coming
months. All of which can be held over
the colder months to be brought out
and eaten with cheeses, winter salads
and generally for a 'pop' of summer
flavour. Fruit compotes can be stirred
into porridge to remind yourself that
summer will come back.
The UK has an abundance of
orchard fruits that deliver their
goods for months and months as
summer ends and autumn takes over
before winter nuggs in before we get
a sniff of springtime.
Damsons
The damson or damson plum also
archaically called the "damascene",[2]
plum of Damascus is an edible 'stone
fruit', a subspecies of the plum tree.
Varieties of are found across Europe,
but the name damson is derived from
and most commonly applied to forms
that are native to Great Britain.
Damsons are relatively small oval
plum-like fruit with a distinctive,
somewhat tart taste, and are
widely used for culinary purposes,
particularly in fruit preserves and
jams. The main characteristic of the
damson is its distinctive rich flavour;
unlike other plums it is both high in
sugars and highly astringent. Some
varieties of damson, however are
sweet enough to eat directly from
the tree, and most are palatable raw
if allowed to fully ripen. Because
damson stones may be difficult and
time-consuming to separate from the
flesh, preserves, such as jam or fruit
butter, are often made from whole
fruit.
Damsons can also be pickled,
canned, or otherwise preserved.
Damson gin is made in a similar
manner to sloe gin, although less
sugar is necessary as the damsons
are sweeter than sloes.
Nutrition
Raw per 100g:
Energy 34 cals;
Carbohydrates 9g;
Protein 1g;
0 fat, salt and fibre;
7% potassium;
copper 6%,
Pantothenic Acid (B5) 6%,
Vitamins C (5%)
Vitamin E 5%.
Greengages
The greengages are a group of
cultivars of the common Middle
Eastern plum.
We supply only the finest quality
green gage trees that are proven
to produce a fantastic crop. The
delicious fruits are ready for picking
from around mid to late August.
Greengages are like smaller plums
and sweeter than traditional dessert
plums. They are one of the most
popular fruit trees as they grow
quickly and require little pruning.