Not me, but another local allotment holder has a glut of Victoria plums.
(I've cheated on the image here, taking it from
this commercial site. Just thought I should say that, out of principle.)
I just took 1.5kg off her hands (an informal trade against mulberries earlier in the season), and am thinking of using them for this, from the
Waitrose web site
Ingredients
3 onions, finely chopped
50g fresh root ginger, finely grated
4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 red chillies, finely chopped
2.5kg plums, stoned and quartered
1 litre white wine vinegar
250g light soft brown sugar
200ml light soy sauce
½ cinnamon stick
3 star anise
Method
The sauce Put the onions, ginger, garlic, chilli, plums, vinegar and 300ml water in a large pan. Simmer for 20 minutes, until soft. Sieve, in batches, pushing with a wooden spoon to extract all the pulp and liquid. Discard the contents of the sieve.
Return the strained liquid to the pan with the sugar and soy sauce and bring back to the boil. Add the cinnamon and star anise. Simmer, uncovered, for about 11/2 hours, stirring occasionally, until thick. Remove the spices, pour into sterilised bottles, seal and cool.
Store in a cool, dark place for up to 4 months. Once opened, keep refrigerated and use within 3 weeks
Of course, here in Sydenham there is no need to aspire to an actual Waitrose store, when Penge Food Centre will have all the non-standard ingredients - thinking here of star anise.
Anyone else who wants any should PM me fast - they will go off very quickly.
Who'd be a traditional commercial fruit grower, having to deal with the vagaries of nature: nothing to deliver some years, gluts in years like this when you can hardly give your product away, and consumers seem to want the reliability that supermarkets can deliver?