Plums for brandy
 

Went with my dad to a nearby village to help him get plums for making brandy. Nice orchard, and cheap plums, 15 cents per kilo.

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Oh my god I would be a sick as a dog after I left that place from eating plums.

Do you think I'm not?

wow. they are very nice. that is way too little money for those. how does the orchard or family survive on those prices? is everything else in the economy that way?

Median monthly pay in Serbia is 250 dollars per month post tax. Many add to their salary by doing some agriculture on the side. We have a plum orchard of our own, but my dad has a still and makes brandy to sell, so we need more plums than we can grow. He sells double-distilled plum brandy of 45% alcohol for 5$ per liter.

The guy I know that has a still and makes very good aged whiskey sells it for over $100 a liter.
I bet the brandy is awesome.

It is, but Americans often find it too strong. I rarely drink it myself, but I enjoy it as hot caramel toddy in the winter.

45% is perfect in my opinion.

My grandmother was born in northern Serbia and I remember my grandparents drinking Slivovitz, which I believe was plum Brandy. I''m excited to be visiting that area in a few months. I think Slivovitz is called something different now.

No, it's still šljivovica (shliv-oh-vitz-ah). Other popular brandies here are made from grapes, quince, and Williams pear.

Arnorrian, thanks for the information.

If offered to choose when you visit you should opt for quince brandy, dunja (doo-nyah), that's the best one.

Edit:

I've just seen I've spelled brandy wrong in the thread name, drats!

Ok, I'll do that. I hope it is not too strong.

[QUOTE=Farmette;741305]Ok, I'll do that. I hope it is not too strong.[/QUOTE]

Me thinks that brandy was first made to preserve wine for shipping.
Once it came into port and was sold it was then diluted back to normal strength.
Then people got a taste for it in its distilled state.
The other is fortified wine like Marsala and Madeira which people including myself dearly love not only to sip but to cook with.
Fortified wine just has a tasteless alcohol or brandy added to it.

When I was a child I dearly loved brandied fruit.
There was always a big container of it at every house.
Something you dont see often anymore.

[QUOTE=Worth1;741310]Me thinks that brandy was first made to preserve wine for shipping.
Once it came into port and was sold it was then diluted back to normal strength.
Then people got a taste for it in its distilled state.
The other is fortified wine like Marsala and Madeira which people including myself dearly love not only to sip but to cook with.
Fortified wine just has a tasteless alcohol or brandy added to it.

When I was a child I dearly loved brandied fruit.
There was always a big container of it at every house.
Something you dont see often anymore.[/QUOTE]
I make a mean Chicken Marsala, if I do say so myself. Dry marsala, not sweet marsala.

A family friend of ours is a real 'guru' when it comes to making brandy from any fruit. His cherry brandy is legendary (if a tad strong!!), but he has made delicious drinks from almost anything that grows...

[QUOTE=Worth1;741310]Me thinks that brandy was first made to preserve wine for shipping.
Once it came into port and was sold it was then diluted back to normal strength.
Then people got a taste for it in its distilled state.
The other is fortified wine like Marsala and Madeira which people including myself dearly love not only to sip but to cook with.
Fortified wine just has a tasteless alcohol or brandy added to it.

When I was a child I dearly loved brandied fruit.
There was always a big container of it at every house.
Something you dont see often anymore.[/QUOTE]

Just got a box of Georgia peaches up here. Reading your post made me consider making canned brandied peaches. We also have something around here called Cherry Bounce, made with Door County cherries.

Not meaning to hyjack the brandy theme -

Those small, oval , sweet dark purple plums are my favorite for fresh eating. I haven't seen them in the grocery for several years. The roundish plums which are red to almost purple and firmer have replaced them. On sale at the grocery they are over $1.50 lb in season. I'll have to look elsewhere. There is a new trend called Fruit Clubs which are pop up sales of fruits brought in from other areas. Very pricey.

- Lisa

The plums I have tasted from the store taste like sour cardboard.

True for store bought produce in many cases. :?!?: Commerce has almost destroyed the fresh peach.



When I can, I get fruit from several family-owned orchards but they most disappeared under housing developments about 20 years ago. :no:


That orchard in Serbia looks wonderful.:yes:

There is a young guy at work that is always bringing fruit to work.
He offers some to me and I politely tell him that if he had ver had real fruit picked ripe from the vine or tree he wouldn't be buying store bought fruit.
This guy has never had anything we shale say good in his life.
Today he brought peanut brittle to work and ate it before he ate his plum.
Well you guy know how that turned out.

I said now eat your plum and he did.
You should have seen his eyes cross. :)):)):))

Those plums are truly gorgeous. :love: Plums are one fruit that was always grown here, at least a few types are hardy enough and must have been brought by settlers. But I'm told those old plum varieties are very susceptible to black knot, so they are no longer popular for growing. :(
Speaking of brandy, yesterday afternoon I saw the first chanterelles are up in my garden. I was remembering my favorite recipe, that is to cook them in olive oil/ bay leaf and ginger, some honey added and a splash of brandy. Used to always have brandy or cognac around for cooking, but l never have any these days. I bet plum brandy would suit really well. :)

[QUOTE=PhilaGardener;742226]
That orchard in Serbia looks wonderful.:yes:[/QUOTE]
Damson plum is the national fruit. But its production is in danger. There is talk about forbidding distilling of brandy at home, and this year the wholesale price growers were given by the exporters was 10 US cents per kilo. Exporters have formed a cartel, with the president's brother controlling it, that is destroying Serbian fruit producers. Sour cherry went for 45 cents per kilo this year, and raspberry is 1-1.2 dollars per kilo (bellow production cost).

There is even a prophesy that resounds in the national consciousness that one day all the Serbs will fit under one plum tree.

[QUOTE=arnorrian;742314]Damson plum is the national fruit. But its production is in danger. There is talk about forbidding distilling of brandy at home, and this year the wholesale price growers were given by the exporters was 10 US cents per kilo. Exporters have formed a cartel, with the president's brother controlling it, that is destroying Serbian fruit producers. Sour cherry went for 45 cents per kilo this year, and raspberry is 1-1.2 dollars per kilo (bellow production cost).

[COLOR=Red]There is even a prophesy that resounds in the national consciousness that one day all the Serbs will fit under one plum tree.[/COLOR][/QUOTE]

Lets hope not. :(

The way things are going it could be all of us humans under one tree at some point in the not so distant future. Likely a withered tree.

[QUOTE=arnorrian;742369]The way things are going it could be all of us humans under one tree at some point in the not so distant future. Likely a withered tree.[/QUOTE]


Tree crops have a really positive profile, from the point of view of climate mitigation.. maybe someone clever can parley that into carbon credit of some kind? :?!?:
May your trees grow stronger and your troubles grow smaller. :arrow:
Anyway, you know the gardener's advantage, those soil organisms that make us incurable optimists... if things look bleak get some dirt on your hands (and take a good sniff!!) :lol:

This thread reminded me of a life long ago.
About a girl I used to know. :)
It pretty much set the standard for how I feel about people today.
From which I shall not be led astray.