damsons

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damsons

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ross

Joined: 07 Mar 2005
Posts: 123

Posted: Fri Aug 26, 05 8:58 am Post subject: damsons
I have found a wild damson tree and think they're getting ripe- still a bit firm to the touch. Have tried one and they are not very sweet- do they get as sweet as domesticated plums or do they stay quite tart? Any recommended recipes, preferably for a sauce to go with meat? I'm really getting into this foraging lark! thanks ross

Behemoth

Joined: 01 Dec 2004
Posts: 19023
Location: Leeds

Posted: Fri Aug 26, 05 9:01 am Post subject:
Tart. Earlier this week the Metro newspaper had a page about damsons and recipes for them. It ended by saying they were hard to find in the shops and gave details of a couple of suppliers. No mention that you can find them out and about.

tahir

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 45723
Location: Essex

Posted: Fri Aug 26, 05 9:07 am Post subject:

Behemoth wrote:

Tart.

You called?

cab

Joined: 01 Nov 2004
Posts: 32429

Posted: Fri Aug 26, 05 9:34 am Post subject:

Damson jam is an undoubted classic, and you can use it in sauces like redcurrant jelly; it's excellent.

You can also stone some damsons and stew rabbits with them; be sparing, because they're tart. My plan this year is rabbit stew with damsons and damson jam to balance it out a bit.

While they're a bit hard they'll still make good jam, but there's so much pectin in damsons that you can let them ripen a bit. Depending on the damsons, they may get very sweet or they may stay a little tart (no, not you Tahir), but either way they're brilliant in jam, sweet rich homebrew wine, cooked down to damson cheese, etc.

efiona

Joined: 09 Dec 2004
Posts: 60
Location: manchester

Posted: Fri Aug 26, 05 12:01 pm Post subject:
damson gin is gorgeous, just follow a sloe gin recipe and substitute the sloes for damsons. yu might want to reduce the sugar content just a wee bit, they're not quite as tart as sloes.

thos

Joined: 08 Mar 2005
Posts: 1139
Location: Jauche, Duchy of Brabant (Bourgogne-ci) and Charolles, Duchy of Burgundy (Bourgogne-ça)

Posted: Fri Aug 26, 05 1:12 pm Post subject:
I would recommend damson chutney. https://www.deliaonline.com/recipes/r_0000001652.asp

Mrs Fiddlesticks

Joined: 02 Nov 2004
Posts: 10460

Posted: Sat Aug 27, 05 5:38 pm Post subject:
damsons are about now - we've picked 1 1/2 lb this afternoon. I've frozen them ready to make in to damson vodka, which was a huge success last year - think alcoholic plum crumble. I suppose the big question Ross is if you leave them a week or two more will they still be there or will someone else have picked them 1st!

Treacodactyl
Downsizer Moderator

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 25795
Location: Jumping on the bandwagon of opportunism

Posted: Tue Sep 13, 05 6:09 am Post subject:
We found a good few trees at the weekend and picked a bag full. They were still firmish and tart but have made a few jars of good jam. I'm also trying a jar of damson vodka and another jar of damson gin. The trees were a mix of old trees and new suckers and with a bit of TLC I bet there could be a great harvest in years to come.

cab

Joined: 01 Nov 2004
Posts: 32429

Posted: Tue Sep 13, 05 8:35 am Post subject:
Our regular damson trees may be demolished in a year or two But this year we picked rather more than a stone of them, for jam and wine. Jam is popping away in secondary now, and the jam is embarassingly sitting out waiting for room to be cleared in our overfull preserves cupboard!

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