Favols Pitted Agen Prunes - IGP
250 gram bag - Agen, France
They are more than just nature's best candy!
Prunes D'Agen.
Though we automatically pop these particular prunes into our mouths right away because they are such a treat, prunes are a special way to naturally sweeten your recipes.
Prunes do especially well with pork in savory dishes. Even simple ones like bacon-wrapped sausages with prunes are super easy to make and celebrate the prune.
California is the source of most of the prunes in this country, but France is the home of the most splendid prune of all Pruneaux D'Agen from Agen, France.
When you try one of these pitted sun-dried plums for the first time, you realize that not all prunes are the same. Those dried, wrinkly, chewy ones I grew up with are nothing like these, which are a totally different eating experience.
I have been very lucky in my time in the food business to try a lot of food, and in a previous life to have traveled around the world, and there are many foods that are interesting, exciting, delicious and special. But when it comes to food and travel to Agen, France is at the top of places to visit for the prune harvest.
With their micro-thin skins, they are absolutely melt-in-your-mouth delicious, and just as good for snacking as they are for either sweet or savory dishes, like Bruce Aidells' and Denis Kelly's Braised Pork with Port and Prunes, or rich North African-style tagines, which incorporate warm spices like cinnamon or allspice with prunes and meat, often lamb.
What's so special about these Agen prunes?
They come from plums that are a hybrid of a local fruit and the exotic damask plum, first brought to France from Syria in the 12th century. The plums are shaken from the trees, dried first in the sun, and then finished in a barely warm oven. The result is a large, plump prune with a deep spicy aroma and rich, lovely flavor - a summer harvest that's ready to be enjoyed all winter long!
