An article I found interesting!
PRUNE D’ENTE
POSTED ON APRIL 25, 2011 BY KATIE
These are not your Grandmother’s prunes!
From the Ente plum to the Agen prune, much has to be done to obtain the tender, tasty, juicy delicacy that’s come to be known as the “black gold of Aquitaine”. The Agen prunes are made from a variety of plums called “Prune d’Ente“, and for export the prunes are also called prune d’Ente. As with most products at Great Ciao the quality is determined by the details, taste the difference.
The most famous prune in the world, the pruneau d’Agen, has been a celebrated product of southwest France since at least the 1500s and the Ente plums have been officially protected since 2002 by the European Union. Agen is a commune in Aquitaine of south-western France. It lies on the river Garonne 84miles southeast of Bordeaux and is the birthplace of the prune d’Agen.
For centuries, prune production was essentially carried out empirically as a cottage industry. Now even as production has been mechanized, and grafts of the Ente plum can grow in California, there are differences.
How to determine ripeness? Most growers determine the time to harvest by measuring the softness of the fruit, which is linked to sweetness; growers aim to pick when resistance to pressure, applied to the fruit with a penetrometer, falls to between three and four pounds. But in France, growers measure the sweetness directly with a refractometer, looking for 21 degrees Brix — each degree equaling approximately 1 percent sugar — and sometimes achieving much more. (Ripeness often used to be determined by the plums themselves, which fall from the tree as they become ripe. Growers would spread straw on the ground as a cushion to prevent bruising.)
