British greengage season

Ed shares childhood memories of plums that refused to ripen. Only years later, he realised were the highly-prized, intensely flavoursome siblings of plums – greengages.  

Growing up I was lucky enough to have a garden with a few plum trees dotted around the lawn – thoughtfully planted by the previous homeowner. Occasionally my brothers and I made use of them as goal posts when having a kick around. But for most of the year, I barely noticed the trees.

Come August however, the plums would ripen and my mother would send us out (and still does!) to pick bowlfuls. She would turn them into jam, stew with blackberries. Or make copious batches of crumble ready to eat throughout autumn.   

But there was one stubborn tree that only bore fruit every other year. And even when it did the plums never seemed to ripen. It produced a piddling cluster of little green golf ball-sized plums. We stood well clear of this suspicious fruit. Sticking to the more familiar purple-red Victoria plums instead. The green variety was always left for the wasps to devour. It was only years later when I saw the same mid-green plums on a stand at a farmers’ market that I realised my mistake!   

Is it a greengage or an unripe plum?

Alas I didn’t realise this tree was a greengage variety, producing the sweetest, most delicious plums of all. You can distinguish greengages from ordinary underripe plums as they are soft to the touch and come away with ease when picked. They were pronounced ‘the queen of plums’ by food writer Edward Bunyan and I believe they have rightfully earned this regal title. Intensely sweet and sour, they are also incredibly addictive, like eating sherbet confectionary. Their flavour is so beautifully balanced that I enjoy them the most simply eaten straight from a paper bag on a hot summer day. 

What to do with a greengage

There is of course plenty more you can do with them. Their acidity pairs beautifully with savoury things like fatty meats such as lamb, duck or with oily fish like mackerel. They are equally superb when made into chutney to serve with a nice strong cheese as Belinda demonstrates in this month’s recipe video. Then again, you can’t go wrong using them the same as you would an ordinary plum in desserts such as compotes, crumbles and tarts. Just add less sugar than you normally would since greengages contain double the natural sugars compared to other plums.   

Where to buy greengages

With all this glowing praise for the greengage you might be wondering why it’s not more widely celebrated and readily available in supermarkets. As is so often the case with ingredients highly prized by chefs, it comes down to scarcity. As I said, greengage trees only produce fruit biannually, every other year. The trees are also of a sensitive nature, especially vulnerable to frost and disease. Even when greengages do fruit they tend to yield far fewer plums. Plus they have a shorter season than other UK varieties, restricted from mid-August to September at best.

All these factors combine to make greengages a tricky option for commercial growers. Keeping them an elusive ingredient outside of a farmers’ market or specialty greengrocer. However, the greengage tree does live a surprisingly long time – 50 years, sometimes longer! I hope the previous owners of my parents’ home did not plant that tree so very long ago. 

Make sure you’re signed up to the Leiths Letter to get our recipe for Greengage Chutney, Lavosh Crackers and Cornish Yard in the next edition. You’ll be able to try it with our wine pairing of the month chosen by Marjorie Legendre, Leiths’ Head of Wine, sign up here.