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    Home » Wild Fruit

    Wild Plum Recipes

    About

    American wild plums (Prunus americana) are one of the most bountiful wild fruits I harvest, and a must-know for foragers. There's a number of varieties found across North America, but I focus on P. americana.

    Quick links

    If you're new to this fruit, please read my post Foraging and Cooking with Wild Plums 

    Wild Plum Jam | Sweet and Sour Candied Wild Plums |

    | Fruit Scrap Vinegar | Wild Plum Leather | Wild Plum Ketchup |

    wild plums in a wooden bowl

    Both of these are P. americana. Size and taste can vary widely from tree to tree.

    Tannic Taste of the Skin

    Prunus americana is very different from cultivated varieties. The most important things to know are that the skins are very tough and tannic. If the fruit is cooked whole, the flesh will become tannic and unpleasant.

    Ripening

    Prunus americana is notorious for uneven ripening. If you pick some and they feel hard and taste tannic, treat them like any other stone fruit and allow them to ripen in a paper bag. Some may discolor, but many will ripen to the stage you want.

    multi-colored wild plums ripening in a paper bag.

    Ripen the fruit in a paper bag. Some may discolor-discard them.

    How to Process

    I use a special technique to process the fruit without activating the mouth-drying tannins. Here's what I do:

    Warm the fruit in an oven at 250 F for a few minutes, just until they're warm to the touch. Remove the fruit from the oven, then mash them up in a colander, pressing the paste around to push the pulp through the holes.

    Make sure to save the leftover stones and skins for making homemade vinegar.

    • How to Make Homemade Almond Extract (Crème de Noyeaux)
    • Persimmon-Pudding Cake with Dried Fruit
    • Wild Plum Ketchup
    • American Wild Plum Leather (Tkelapi)
    • Fruit Scrap Vinegar
    • Maple Wild Plum Butter
    • Smoked Venison Ribs with Spicy Wild Plum Glaze
    • Wild Plums
    • Simple American Wild Plum Sauce

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    Chef Alan Bergo

    HI, I'm Alan: James Beard Award-winning Chef, Author, Show Host and Forager. I've been writing about cooking wild food here for over a decade. Let me show you why foraging is the most delicious thing you'll ever do.

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