§ XXXVIII.
Prunes from Green Gages, and Plumbs.
(Prunes de Reine-Claude et Mirabelles.)
I have made prunes of whole green-gages, including the stone and the stalk, as well as of other great plums; and even of perdrigons and alberges, which succeeded very well. But there are these inconveniences in preserving the largest fruits whole, that few of these large plums can be put into even a large jar, since the vacancies cannot be filled up by shaking the fruit, without altogether crushing them; and that when the heat of the water-bath is applied to them, they shrink, and the jars are found half empty.
In consequence, I have abandoned this too expensive mode, and am accustomed to preserve all these large plums, cut in halves, after having taken out the stone. This is the easiest and most economical manner, corks of a sufficiently large size for large objects being very dear, and also rare, when the cork is very fine; the vessels too which have a narrow or middling neck are more easy to be well corked, and the operation is in consequence more certain. As to the mirabelle [a small white plum] and all other small plums, I prepare them with the stone in them, after having taken off the stalk; for they are in this way easier to shake close, and they leave but few vacancies in the bottles. In general, I observe, in the preservation of all these prunes, either whole or cut in halves, the same process, care and attention, which I have pointed out under the head of apricots and peaches.