Get to the plums - how to preserve and prepare them

A few days ago we harvested plums in our garden. 22 kilos, on a single tree. Plums have been native to this country since the 15th century, they are rich in vitamins, minerals and trace elements, they are good for digestion and are now in high season - they thrive from July to mid-October.

We like to call the plum, a subspecies of the plum, the "elegant plum" because it is finer and smaller than the plum. If you are not lucky enough to be able to harvest plums - in some regions of Germany they are also called plums or squeezes - in your own garden, then you are forced to buy them. When shopping, make sure they are rather firm. Gently press down on it. Plums are – like bananas and mangoes – one of the fruits that ripen at home. If, on the other hand, you buy soft plums, you can be sure that they will rot quickly and that swarms of fruit flies will be buzzing around your kitchen in no time.

Our rich plum harvest has, among other things, caused this wonderful stone fruit to stick in our heads - and we have decided to incorporate it into our new menu, which will be valid in two weeks. Our late summer and autumn menu. There the plum will be present in three to four dishes, and not just in desserts.

The plum can be both sweet and salty. Plums taste great with pork, game and poultry and are an enrichment for Asian dishes. A duck with rice, vegetables, nuts, coriander and strips of fried plum is a delicacy.

Here is a recipe to keep the fruit for a long time, to use in various dishes. We've been using this recipe for many years, it's our universal plum recipe, so to speak. You need: One kilo of plums, halved and stoned. 180 grams of sugar. 200 milliliters of red wine. 300 milliliters of black currant juice. A stick of cinnamon. A piece of star anise. 6 grams of salt.

Put all the ingredients (apart from the plums) in a saucepan, thicken with a little cornstarch and bring to the boil. Then put the plums in a sealable jar, add the warm liquid, close the jar immediately and turn it upside down (an old grandmother's trick for preserving fruit). Cool and leave for 10 to 14 days to allow flavor to develop. The plums can be stored in the fridge for three to four months if they are sealed.

What can you use the content for? For example, you can infuse the juice with sparkling wine or champagne. It doesn't always have to be Kir. The juice is also wonderful for seasoning strong sauces for meat dishes. The fruit, on the other hand, is great for dessert (with a scoop of vanilla ice cream). Or, seared, as an accompaniment to meat.

Walter Stemberg and his son Sascha run the star restaurant "Haus Stemberg" in Velbert, whose star in the "Guide Michelin" restaurant guide was recently confirmed for the ninth year in a row. The Stembergs write about the basics of cooking in WELT AM SONNTAG. All episodes to read online.