{"id":1710,"date":"2005-10-27T05:38:00","date_gmt":"2005-10-27T05:38:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/elitemporaryblog.wordpress.com\/2005\/10\/27\/the-semantics-of-stewing"},"modified":"2015-09-24T03:54:14","modified_gmt":"2015-09-24T03:54:14","slug":"the-semantics-of-stewing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/orangette.net\/2005\/10\/the-semantics-of-stewing\/","title":{"rendered":"The semantics of stewing"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the English language, there are only a handful of phrases that come with their own built-in <\/strong>laugh track<\/strong><\/a>, and sadly, \u201cstewed prunes<\/strong>\u201d is one of them. Witness the following exchange, tearfully recorded by yours truly during a phone conversation earlier this week:<\/p>\n

Molly: I\u2019m thinking of making stewed prunes.*<\/p>\n

Brandon: [Giggle<\/em>].<\/p>\n

Molly: Why are you laughing? Have you ever eaten a stewed prune?<\/p>\n

Brandon: [Giggle<\/em>]. No, but it just sounds funny. I mean, steewwwed pruuune! [Giggle giggle<\/em>].<\/p>\n

It is a dark, dark day, dear reader, when you learn that the man you love\u2014and whose genetic material you would like to help perpetuate, even\u2014is a prune skeptic<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

In his defense, Brandon claims that he dislikes all dried fruits, the unfortunate result of being forced to eat too much \u201chippie trail mix\u201d as a child. Now, it\u2019s bad enough that the delicious prune\u2014or, to use its new, marketing-friendly name, the dried plum<\/a>\u2014has to work an unglamorous side-job as a laxative, but for it to be discriminated against on the basis of childhood trauma is simply unfair. And anyway, if we really get down to semantics, stewed<\/em> prunes aren\u2019t dried fruits anymore. They\u2019re soft, swollen, gushy pockets of heady, sweet-tart juice<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
I like to think of prunes as plums that have been bettered by hardship, plums made wiser by old age and wizening, and I consider myself lucky to have been schooled in the simple art of stewing from an early age. My father<\/a>, a fan of cook-while-you-sleep breakfasts, used to load up a late-night saucepan with prunes, water, and thin slices of orange and lemon, bring it to a boil, cover it, turn off the heat, and let it sit until morning. The Food Safety and Inspection Service<\/a> would likely look askance at such a method, but it did make ours a relatively happy, mainly healthy, pro-prune household.<\/p>\n

Today I prefer a method that\u2019s a little more conventional but every bit as effortless: a short, gentle simmer over low heat, with no stirring, poking, or prodding required. You\u2019ll know that your prunes are properly stewed when an almost liqueur-like aroma wafts out of the saucepan<\/strong>. The fruit should slump on the spoon, and its skin should yield to the tooth with a gentle, dainty pop<\/strong>. Its silky, juicy pulp should be both warming and wintery<\/strong>, a deep, round, heartening flavor that\u2019s delicate but deathly serious.<\/p>\n

If I have my way, even the most hard-boiled of prune skeptics will be stewed into submission.<\/p>\n

*Thank you, David Lebovitz<\/a>, for believing in prunes.<\/p>\n

Stewed Prunes with Citrus and Cinnamon<\/strong>
Adapted from Tomato Blessings and Radish Teachings<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

When I wanted to recreate the flavor of my father\u2019s overnight stewed prunes, I turned to a little feel-good cookbook-cum-self-help-book by Edward Espe Brown, Zen monk and author of several well-known vegetarian cookbooks. Brown treats his prunes as simply as possible, and rightly so. To my palate, prunes are the loveliest of dried fruits: they lack the shrill, high-pitched sweetness of raisins and the sticky, cloying sugar of dates, and their low, dark flavor has more depth than, say, a dried apricot. These stewed prunes get additional nuance, too, from thin slivers of citrus fruits, which go into the pot bitter peel and all. They\u2019re delicious warm, with thick, Greek-style plain yogurt, or atop a bowl of oatmeal, dabbled over ice cream, or\u2014as I\u2019ve been known to do it\u2014cold, straight off the fork, from the fridge.<\/p>\n

1 orange, OR 2 small tangerines, OR 1 small orange and \u00bd a lemon
1 pound pitted prunes, preferably organic
1 cinnamon stick<\/p>\n

Cut the citrus fruit in half vertically, and then slice it thinly, peel and all. Place the slices in a medium saucepan with the prunes and the cinnamon stick, and add water to cover. Bring the mixture to a gentle simmer, and cook over medium-low heat for about 30-45 minutes, until the prunes are quite tender, the citrus slices are soft and glassy, and the liquid in the pan is caramelly. Remove the cinnamon stick and serve, or store in a sealed container in the refrigerator for up to a week. I find that they’re actually better after a little rest, so I try to make mine a day or so before I want to eat them.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In the English language, there are only a handful of phrases that come with their own built-in laugh track, and sadly, \u201cstewed prunes\u201d is one of them. Witness the following exchange, tearfully recorded by yours truly during a phone conversation earlier this week: Molly: I\u2019m thinking of making stewed prunes.* Brandon: [Giggle]. Molly: Why are you laughing? Have you ever eaten a stewed prune? Brandon: [Giggle]. No, but it just sounds funny. I mean, steewwwed pruuune! [Giggle giggle]. It is a dark, dark day, dear reader, when you learn that the man you love\u2014and whose genetic material you would like to help perpetuate, even\u2014is a prune skeptic. In his defense, Brandon claims that he dislikes all dried fruits, the unfortunate…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nThe semantics of stewing | Orangette<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/orangette.net\/2005\/10\/the-semantics-of-stewing\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The semantics of stewing | Orangette\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In the English language, there are only a handful of phrases that come with their own built-in laugh track, and sadly, \u201cstewed prunes\u201d is one of them. Witness the following exchange, tearfully recorded by yours truly during a phone conversation earlier this week: Molly: I\u2019m thinking of making stewed prunes.* Brandon: [Giggle]. Molly: Why are you laughing? Have you ever eaten a stewed prune? Brandon: [Giggle]. No, but it just sounds funny. I mean, steewwwed pruuune! [Giggle giggle]. It is a dark, dark day, dear reader, when you learn that the man you love\u2014and whose genetic material you would like to help perpetuate, even\u2014is a prune skeptic. 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