Plum good summer fruits
If you experience ecstasies over luscious raspberries, juicy peaches, succulent figs and tangy nectarines, you are not alone. Legions of folks who write articles and cookbooks go gaga over summer fruits. In one new book, I counted dozens of adjectives applied to otherwise humble melons and the like. In addition to those used in the sentence above, adjectives include: aromatic, fleshy, delicate, vibrant, sweet, ambrosial, honeyed, musky, earthy, bright, tart, beautiful, voluptuous, ethereal, sumptuous, intoxicating, enchanting, tannic, gorgeous, spiritual and divine.
Romney Steele, author of “Plum Gorgeous” (2011 Andrews McMeel) even quotes Emile Zola on raspberries “scorched by the hot caresses of the voluptuous sun.” OK, it's definitely a bit much, but admit it: Wouldn't a dish of ripe berries, dripping with honeyed juices, taste, well, “ambrosial,” right about now?
Steele's book caught my eye because of its title heralding the plum, which I think of as one of the unsung fruits of summer. Peaches get all the glory, but plums -- those solid bits of summer sweetness -- are lovely, too. The poet William Carlos Williams (who Steele also quotes) got it right in his poem, “This Is Just To Say”: “I have eaten / the plums / that were in / the icebox / and which / you were probably / saving / for breakfast / Forgive me / they were delicious / so sweet / and so cold.” Take that, Emile Zola! Fans of crisp writing will note Williams uses no other adjectives other than “delicious,” “sweet” and “cold.” But no doubt they were “intoxicating” and “sumptuous” as well.
There are worse crimes than waxing poetic over ripe fruit. Steele also waxes savvy when it comes to her terrific recipes. One, a plum tart recipe, printed here, is about as good as it gets. Or, as she puts it, “simply too perfect to ignore.”