MARVELOUS MIRABELLES
While most of the world associates France with the grape, the mirabelle plum (Prunus domestica subsp. syriaca) is queen in that country’s Lorraine region. Little-known in North America, this small, pale heirloom fruit is essential to Lorraine’s culinary traditions — and you can grow it in the United States, too.
About 80 percent of the world’s commercial mirabelle harvest comes from northeastern France, where Lorraine has developed a unique cuisine. The fruit is made into jams, jellies, pies, ice cream, compotes, and every other sweet treat imaginable. Mirabelles are distilled to make a local obsession, the fruit brandy known as eau de vie. (In the Lorraine dialect, it’s more common to hear the German word for eau de vie: Schnapps.)
Lorraine is justifiably proud of
