Pickled Plums

If you go into some health stores or specialist shops you will find Japanese plum seasoning. It’s an intensely sharp, clear pink plum (ume) vinegar. It seemed obvious, therefore, to use this to pickle plums. Quite apart from how good these taste, they look so beautiful, the dark red of the fruit in the tawny pink of the pickling liquid.

Bring out to eat with cold meats and use within 3–4 months, not because they’ll go off but because after a while the fruit goes a bit too mus