Press Releases
SugarPlums! Ticket to France for Lucky Chef
6/23/2003
SugarPlums!-Ticket to France for Lucky Chef
The growers of California SugarPlums! are offering a special incentive to local restaurants interested in experimenting with recipes using this unique plum being promoted in local markets this season. The incentive-a culinary vacation to Georgeanne Brennan's Haute Provence Cooking School-where one winning chef will enjoy a week of cooking classes taught by cookbook author Georgeanne Brennan and experiencing the beautiful back country of Provence, France.
Sound intriguing? Interested chefs at local restaurants can participate in the California SugarPlums! Restaurant Recipe Contest and enter to win this fabulous weeklong trip by preparing a taste-tempting recipe using fresh SugarPlums! and serving it in their restaurants.
SugarPlums!, also known as fresh prune-plums, French prunes or Italian prunes, have been around for hundreds of years. California tree fruit growers are breathing new life into them with special promotions in select markets across the United States.
SugarPlums! are available for only a short time during the summer with harvest beginning in mid-July and running through August. SugarPlums! are considered European plum varieties. They tend to be small and have a purple, mottled appearance, but a very high sugar content, which allows them to be dried-as they traditionally are-to become prunes, or dried plums, as they are now called.
In their fresh state, SugarPlums! are a taste treat normally reserved for export markets like Taiwan and Hong Kong. But this year, some are staying in the U.S. for us to enjoy. California growers are hoping to expand the popularity of SugarPlums! by encouraging restaurants to feature them in creative new recipes. So, consumers should keep their eyes peeled for these little gems to appear on the menus of their favorite restaurants.
To enter the California SugarPlums! Restaurant Recipe Contest, restaurants should contact the California Tree Fruit Agreement by calling (559) 638-8260 or visit the "Promotions" section of their website at www.eatcaliforniafruit.com to download an entry form and access contest rules and regulations. More information about Georgeanne Brennan's Haute Provence Cooking School can be found at www.georgeannebrennan.com.
Editor's Note: Recipe contest is only open to chef's in select markets. Please contact us to find out which markets are eligible.