Prunes

After the plum harvest come the prunes especially, as far as we are concerned, those made in the juicy style of South West France.

There the plums are gently dried until they are done enough to keep but still juicy and tender enough to eat without soaking. This technique is associated with the region around Agen, hence the name Pruneaux d'Agen. They are used in Apple, Prune and Armagnac Clafoutis and you can usually find them in delicatessens; supermarkets are more likely to have the Californian equivalent which is called a ready-to-eat prune.

The really wrinkly (and to us older) kind of prune is cheaper and keeps for ages in a storage jar but cannot compare for richness of flavour.