There is an abundance of produce and the hedgerows are brimming

There’s such an abundance of produce at the moment it’s hard to imagine that time in May we call the hunger gap.
By Paula McIntyre
Published 10th Sep 2023, 12:00 BST
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Hedgerows are brimming with blackberries, haws and elderberries and there has been a particularly good harvest for apples, plums and pears. My fridge is filled with all manner of fruit ketchups, cordials and pickles. I’d only just finished emptying the freezer of last year’s plums and elderberries and now it’s ready to be replenished. Making chutneys and savoury condiments adds a complexity to fruit that simply adding sugar doesn’t.

When I have plum pulp left over from making a cordial, rather than waste it, I whizz it into an Asian inspired sauce with vinegar to counteract the sweetness, ginger, spices and chilli.

Blend and store it in clean jam jars to add pizzazz to grilled meats, oily fish, chicken and duck. In the recipe here I’ve used the plum sauce to cook pork shoulder in and then to finish it off with noodles and purple sprouting broccoli.

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Plums at Clock House Farm in Coxheath, Kent, as growers struggle against imported plums and lack of UK supermarket shelf space. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Wednesday August 26, 2009. Farmers in Kent described the harvest as a "vintage" crop and spoke of their frustration that the fruit could be left to rot. See PA story FARM Plums. Photo credit should read: Gareth Fuller/PA Wire Plums at Clock House Farm in Coxheath, Kent, as growers struggle against imported plums and lack of UK supermarket shelf space. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Wednesday August 26, 2009. Farmers in Kent described the harvest as a "vintage" crop and spoke of their frustration that the fruit could be left to rot. See PA story FARM Plums. Photo credit should read: Gareth Fuller/PA Wire
Plums at Clock House Farm in Coxheath, Kent, as growers struggle against imported plums and lack of UK supermarket shelf space. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Wednesday August 26, 2009. Farmers in Kent described the harvest as a "vintage" crop and spoke of their frustration that the fruit could be left to rot. See PA story FARM Plums. Photo credit should read: Gareth Fuller/PA Wire

This stemmed vegetable is available now and is a tastier and less wasteful proposition than the thick stumped regular variety. Pork shoulder is still relatively cheap and the whole dish will feed four people for the price of one dish from your local takeaway.

Plums and chocolate make a great match. There’s something about their sweet sourness that works well with the rich chocolate. I’ve added a recipe for chocolate buttermilk cake with gin poached plums. The cake can be whipped together in a saucepan and the combination of buttermilk and baking soda in the mix makes for a bubbly textured finish. Poaching plums in alcohol gives them a bit of an edge, in a good way. Cook them gently in a sugar syrup with a toot of gin added and when they’re just done, with a bit of give, turn them off to cook in the residual heat. When you’ve taken the plums out the remaining juices can be strained and added to chilled sparkling wine or tonic for a refreshing drink – a win/win situation.