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In praise of prunes (dried plums, if you please)
Thursday, January 31, 2008
By Bob Batz Jr., China Millman and Arlene Burnett, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Rebecca Droke, Post-Gazette
Rioja-style Chicken Stew.

We don't need prunes.

We just like them.

And we don't give a you-know-what who knows it.

Offer some people something made with prunes and they'll likely say, "I'll pass."

Just say the word "prunes" and most folks immediately think of two things: "Old" and, well, Number Two.

Those who market prunes can blame themselves. In the 1930s, the United Prune Growers of California already were trying to put the "proper elimination" genie back into the bottle, by hyping prunes' high mineral content and other healthful, non-laxative attributes.

"But include California Prunes in the diet because they're good, as well as for the good they do," notes the introduction to the 1933 pamphlet, "Prunes for Epicures: 35 Intriguing Recipes."

It continues, "Chefs and smart hostesses have discovered many new, delightful and easy-to-prepare ways of serving this fruit for breakfast, luncheon and dinner" and goes on to present dishes ranging from "Caliente Salad" to "Waffle-ized Prune Sandwiches."

Fact is, the great cooks and cuisines of the world have long embraced prunes in everything from Moroccan tagines to Mexican mole. Why, you may have eaten prunes and not even known it!

Which is fine by the prune people, now known as "the California Dried Plum Board." That's right: Several years ago, the marketing group petitioned the Food and Drug Administration to be able to call prunes "dried plums," and the feds said fine, so that alternative name started appearing on packages in 2000. The board's news release was titled, "You Won't Have Prunes to Kick Around Anymore." Today, some packages don't even mention prunes.

Sounds silly, but the board's executive director, Richard L. Peterson, recalls taste tests where a container of prunes was divided into two bowls, one marked "prunes" and one marked "dried plums." Consumers swore the "dried plums" tasted fresher and better. People wouldn't even try a "prune."

"It does demonstrate that it's all in our mind," said Mr. Peterson over the phone from Sacramento, where he continues to work to help update the prune's image from just a medicinal remedy for the constipated. "That's going to take years to accomplish."

Interestingly, it's only in the United States that sellers call them "dried plums." The rest of the world is quite happy to gobble up California prunes.

Any prune you see is likely a California one: That state produces 99 percent of the prunes consumed in the United States (Oregon still grows a few) as well as about 60 percent of the world's prunes (though they're also seriously grown in France and Chile and in many other places).

While a few other varieties are grown, California prunes are mostly descendants of the Petit d'Agen stock brought over from France and grafted on to American plums in what's now downtown San Jose about a century and a half ago.

Today, about 65,000 acres of the state are planted with prune plum-bearing trees, which average about 150,000 tons of prunes.

Almost no one gets a chance to eat one of these prune plums fresh. (Some are flown to Asian countries where they are prized as "sugar plums." )

Almost all of them are dried in natural-gas-fired mechanical "dehydrator tunnels" for 18 hours, at which point they only have 20 percent of their moisture and are hard little things. Packers -- there are 22, including the biggest, Sunsweet -- store them in that state and, when they need to fill an order, give them a steam bath to rejuvenate them to 31 to 32 percent moisture. It's at this point that they're mechanically pitted, by methods called Ashlock or Elliott or Sunsweet's proprietary process that makes them look like puffy pillows on which a little head has rested.

Sunsweet recently has been pushing prunes -- sorry, dried plums -- with innovations including individually wrapped "Ones," dark chocolate-covered "PlumSweets," even a prune plum juice called "PlumSmart" (www.sunsweet.com).

Whatever you call them, there's no getting around that the dried fruits are good for you.

A spokeswoman for the California Dried Plum Board is none other than Pittsburgh's own Leslie Bonci, director of sports medicine nutrition for UPMC's Center for Sports Medicine.

(Is that because Pittsburgh, well documented as having one of the oldest populations in the country, is a hotbed of prune consumption?

(No, says Mr. Peterson: The group does track consumption, but on a scale where 100 is average, Pittsburgh is but a 99. "Where you get the real peaks," he says, "are down in Florida, which you would expect, and the Northeast." In those areas, some packaging still calls 'em "prunes.")

Ms. Bonci is a registered dietitian who works for other companies and groups, too, but she says she actually enjoys prunes -- whoops, dried plums -- and not just for chewy and convenient regularity insurance while traveling.

"For the Super Bowl I'm making a chili that has dried plums in it," says the woman who appreciates their sweetness.

She also cooks them into muffins and puts them on oatmeal, even into salads with goat cheese. She's soon heading to Budapest, where she'll seek out palascinta, crepes filled with lekvar, or prune butter.

Author of the "American Dietetic Association's Guide to Better Digestion," Ms. Bonci explains that prunes' laxative power comes not so much from fiber as from sorbitol, an alcohol sugar they contain at higher concentrations than peaches, nectarines and grapes.

But you don't need to treat dried plums as if they are medicine, she says. Most people can eat a serving of three to five of them very comfortably, and a serving of many prune dishes wouldn't contain that many. "It's not the kind of thing that's going to send everybody to the bathroom at the same time."

In addition to a lot of flavor, prunes contain lots of vitamin A, potassium and copper as well as other attributes and lately have been getting good press.

Prunes are one of Whole Foods Markets' "Foods to Live By: 100 Foods to Eat for Life." The new book, "101 Foods That Could Save Your Life" by David Grotto (Bantam, $14) raves about their antioxidant content and briefly cites studies suggesting that they're good for reducing everything from bone loss to cholesterol.

In its quest to attract even more young women (who make most household buying decisions, as they did in 1933), the Dried Plum Board has, in addition to www.californiadriedplums.org, the Web site www.tummywise.com. It's all about digestive preventive maintenance (Happy California Dried Plum Digestive Health Month -- January -- by the way).

Which is all well and good, but some people -- people like us -- would humbly suggest also trying a different pitch, something along the lines of www.prunesaregourmetgoodness.net. The Plum Board's site contains recipes, but most of them are "healthy." Why not spotlight the prunes wrapped in bacon or soaked in Armagnac?

In her cookbook "Chocolate & Zucchini," Parisian food writer Clotilde Dusoulier gives an eloquent defense of this underappreciated ingredient, which "does not pale one bit in comparison to its more popular cousins the fig and the apricot.

"Prunes," she continues, "are much more treasured in France, where they are often paired with such nobility as chocolate, Armagnac, duck, or guinea fowl. The most prized variety comes from the city of Agen: its production can be traced back to a monastery in the thirteenth century, and locals are so proud of their prune that they have founded a brotherhood of knights to serve its cause, la Compagnie des Chevaliers du Pruneau d'Agen."

Trevett Hooper, chef/owner of Legume Bistro in Regent Square, certainly knows how to give prunes the royal treatment. Legume's New Year's menu included "a cornmeal crepe filled with prunes and fois gras," and recent menus featured rabbit rilletes with a spicy prune spread on toasts.

"I use [them] in the winter, when there's not much good regular, un-dried fruit, and so prunes come in handy," says Chef Hooper. He also cooks with them at home, combining prunes with dried apricots, Earl Grey tea and a little sugar, then spooning the mixture on top of oatmeal.

At Squirrel Hill's Ma Provence, a seared duck breast is served with a "dried fruit sauce" made with dried plums. In an e-mail, chef/owner Eric Chabou confirmed the dish "has been well-received, even by people who are hesitant about prunes."

Though dried plums are now available year round, they almost certainly began as a way to preserve plums past their season. It's no coincidence that they are particularly suitable in winter dishes such as stews, braised meats, warm tarts or spreads. Make them a winter cupboard staple and you will be surprised by their versatility and the creativity they inspire.

As Ms. Dusoulier writes, "I myself adore the gentle sweetness of prunes, their unassuming look, and their velvety flesh. I use them in desserts, like a soup with spiced red wine or a hearty far aux pruneaux, but also in savory dishes ..."

See the Related Links box at left for recipes.

Even if you think you're not a prune person, why not try one? In the end, you may just need to loosen up.

• Dining critic China Millman and food editor Bob Batz Jr. hold a prune taste test to launch the weekly Dining In, Dining Out podcast at www.post-gazette.com/food.

Correction/Clarification: (Published Feb. 1, 2008) This story as originally published Jan. 31, 2008 mentionong paczki (Polish doughnuts) incorrectly listed the now-closed Crafton-Ingram Shopping Center store of Jenny Lee Bakery. The doughnuts are available at the Downtown and McKees Rocks stores.

Food editor Bob Batz Jr. can be reached at bbatz@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1930.
First published on January 31, 2008 at 12:00 am
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