Thursday, August 16, 2018

Let's Talk About Plums

I have strong feelings about the foods I eat.  I can talk about bananas, avocados, pancakes and eggs for days at a time. For instance, if i were to talk about eggs, I'd make a special announcement to the world that I have finally MASTERED the poached egg this summer.  And I couldn't feel more accomplished. I've been giving it a frustrated go off and on over a period of years. Every time I go out for brunch, which I love to do, I get eggs--more specifically, the eggs benedict. Because of the poached egg. If I order a poached egg at a restaurant I will also order something to eat it with, or under with.  Something to go under it, like hash browns or toast.  If the yolk in the egg is not runny I will send it back because a poached egg with a solid yolk is one sad golden mistake.  

 My issue was I would make it in a little pot and that means I can only have one egg at a time. This is unacceptable. So I taught myself to do it in a pan, one of Sean's good ones ("It may be that I refer to it as Excalibur") and I also finally freaking learned the water has to be REALLY HOT. Not simmering like I thought but sufficiently boiling.  And I can make five--FIVE at a time.  Maybe six but i've never needed that many.  Two for me, two for Julian, and one for Sean (lightweight).  It's glorious and my favorite breakfast. And this means I don't have to order the eggs when I'm out because I can make beautiful ones on my own four times a week.

Additionally, if i were to talk about eggs, which isn't really what this post is about, I'd show you my amazing eggs and how I can make them JUST how i want, almost every single time. ALL FIVE.  And I might mention that when I make especially beautiful ones I take pictures to send to Sean, so that he too may revere:  {cry face}


 There's a little overcrowding there but I don't care; two is my minimum. One just forces me to dream about another egg for the rest of the day, but two-- two gets me by until tomorrow.  

But I really didn't come here to talk about eggs.  I've really been diving deep into the seasonal food this summer. Berries? YES, don't stop.  Peaches? Keep 'em coming. You know they won't last. Peaches for every meal.  And the unsung hero of the stone fruits (not looking at you, nectarine--never you): the delicious, ever-fleeting PLUM.  Does anybody ever really know what a plum tastes like? The time they are at their best, their proper and truest form is so short, I'm convinced there aren't many in the world who really know.  And even if you do get your hands on some good plums when the time is ripe (heh), it lasts but a few days only (in my experience) and I don't eat nearly enough to really solidify its flavor in my taste-memory.   Fortunately, stumbling into the Costco this morning brought me one glorious silver or perhaps purplish lining and that was the plum, and that I was forced to buy a ton of them, because Costco.  When I love a thing I give myself no limits until I'm forced to. So it's been a beautiful day of eating plums one right after the other because they are so magically delicious (is this from Lucky Charms? {thinking emoji}) and they won't last long. 

PLUMS.  What is that other-worldly flavor? I honestly feel like I've discovered a new amazing fruit. It's almost a daily conversation in our house, of wondering what it was like when people were trying foods for the first time to see if they're any good.  Eating grapes vs. pill bugs, for instance (Sean's example) and who were the fortunate ones or the poor suckers who had to go first.  

YOU GUYS! I have found a new fruit! I discovered it in a plastic container in a giant warehouse supermarket, atop a heap of crates and containers and surrounded by a million more! It's round, like an apple, but with soft, purple flesh! You cut it in half and twist and it tears easily from the stone inside! The flesh is this strange, pale iridescence and it's so good, I think it's replaced what was, for me, the front-runner of what I imagine the forbidden fruit to be, which was the Asian pear.  No! It must have been something like the plum.  For eating them is revelation, knowledge and wisdom combined. 

Ok, this is getting out of hand.   But srsly, they are sooooo goood.


Joel said...

Don't give up on the Asian pear! But most of the ones you can find here are so small. I miss the cantaloupe-sized pears in Korea.

Plums always make me think of the plum cake that my grandma used to make from the tree in their yard. Well, from the plums that grew on the tree. And it really is hard to get them just at the right level of ripeness. I hadn't considered that before.

I dream of mastering eggs benedict one day. For now it's a little too intimidating, and too much work. Maybe if someone else in my family had good taste it would be worth trying. Alas.

)en said...

cantaloupe-sized pear?? Now that I cannot believe. But want to.

Plum cake sounds delicious. Also a plum tart where it's spread out all pretty? I wish I could pause long enough with my plums to do something with them other than stuff them down the gullet one by one.

Eggs benedict: I mean, it's really all about the hollandaise, right? Which can't be THAT hard. Ok, I just looked it up. It looks a little tricky but with so few ingredients. Also I should have known it's egg sauce. Egg and butter sauce atop eggs. YES. So you make that, i'll do the eggs, and we'll have our own fancy brunch.