Greengage
{{Short description|Group of fruit culttivars}}
{{About|the European plum cultivar|the species of green plum from Asia|Prunus mume}}
{{Infraspeciesbox
|image = Owoce Renkloda.jpg
|genus = Prunus
|species = domestica
|subspecies = italica
|authority = (Borkh.) Gams ex Hegi
|synonyms =
Prunus italica Borkh.
|synonyms_ref = {{GRIN | access-date=22 July 2014}}
}}
The greengages are a group of cultivars of the common Middle Eastern plum. Greengages are grown in temperate areas and are known for the rich, confectionery flavour. They are considered to be among the finest dessert plums though they are also consumed unripe when they are pleasantly tart, hard and crunchy.
Description
Greengage fruit are identified by their round-oval shape and smooth-textured, pale green flesh; they are on average smaller than round plums but larger than mirabelle plums—usually between {{Convert|2 and 4|cm|frac=2}} diameter. The skin ranges in colour from green to yellowish, with a pale blue "blush" in some cultivars; a few Reine Claudes, such as 'Graf Althanns', are reddish-purple due to crossbreeding with other plums.{{Citation needed|date=December 2024}}
Taxonomy
Greengage fruit originated in the Middle East.Andrew F. Smith {{Google books|o7gxBgAAQBAJ|Food and Drink in American History: A "Full Course" Encyclopedia (3 Volumes, 2013)|page=681}} Though "Green Gages" were previously thought to have been first imported into England from France in 1724 by Sir William Gage, 7th Baronet,{{Cite news |first=Christopher |last=Howse |title=The gooseberry is always greener |url=http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/culture/christopherhowse/3648041/The_gooseberry_is_always_greener/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111026042214/http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/culture/christopherhowse/3648041/The_gooseberry_is_always_greener/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=26 October 2011 |publisher=Daily Telegraph |access-date=16 July 2009}} a greengage seed was found embedded{{huh|date=June 2020}} in a 15th-century building in Hereford.{{cite book|title=Fast and Feast|first=Bridget Ann|last=Hensich|page=115|publisher=Penn State Press}} Supposedly, the labels identifying the French plum trees were lost in transit to Gage's home at Hengrave Hall, near Bury St Edmunds.(Chambers's 20th Century Dictionary, 1903). More recent research indicates that it was a cousin and namesake Sir William Gage, 2nd Baronet of Hengrave who was responsible for introducing the greengage to England.{{Cite web|url=https://drfrancisyoung.com/2016/02/22/the-curse-of-the-greengage/|title=The Curse of the Greengage|date=February 22, 2016}}
The name Reine Claude (French for "Queen Claude"), by which they are known in France, is in honour of the French queen Claude (1499–1524), Duchess of Brittany. A greengage is also called {{lang|fr|la bonne reine}} (French for "the good Queen") in France.[http://www.bartleby.com/81/7604.html "Greengage"] at Bartleby.com which provides the text from Brewer, E. Cobham. Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898). Accessed 22 January 2007.
Although the Oxford English Dictionary regards "gage" and "greengage" as synonyms,{{cite book |title=Shorter Oxford English dictionary, 6th ed. |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2007 |isbn=978-0199206872 |location=United Kingdom |pages=3804}} not all gages are green, and some horticulturists make a distinction between the two words, with greengages as a variety of the gages, as Prunus domestica subsp. italica var. claudiana.Melinda Smale (Editor) {{Google books|qhs_IVC-Y3wC|Valuing Crop Biodiversity: On-farm Genetic Resources and Economic Change|page=130}}
Cultivation
In the Czech Republic, they are known as {{lang|cs|ringle}}, in Poland as {{lang|hu|renklody}}, in Hungary as {{lang|hu|ringló}},{{cite web |title=Hungarian-English dictionary |url=https://szotar.sztaki.hu/en/hungarian-english-dictionary/search?fromlang=hun&tolang=eng&searchWord=ringl%C3%B3&langcode=en&u=0&langprefix=en%2F&searchMode=CONTENT_EXACT&viewMode=full&ignoreAccents=0&dict[]=hun-eng-sztaki-dict |website=szotar.sztaki.hu |access-date=24 May 2023}} in Slovakia as {{lang|sk|ringloty}}, in Slovenia as {{lang|sl|ringlo}}, and in Portugal as {{lang|pt|Raínha Cláudia}}. They are widely grown, typically for eating out of hand or stewing in syrup to make a compote. In Portugal, however, they make up a delicacy invented by Dominican nuns in the 16th or 17th century (when confined to their convents) in the town of Elvas, where they are boiled in a sugary syrup several times, over the course of several weeks, to then be preserved whole in syrup or dried, coated in sugar and eaten either with a local dessert, sericaia, made from eggs, sugar, milk, cinnamon and flour or eaten with rich cheeses.File:Prunus domestica italica flowers.jpg
At least the green cultivars breed more or less true from seed. Several similar cultivars produced from seedlings are now available; some of these include other plum cultivars in their parentage. Widely grown cultivars include:
{{div col|colwidth=35em}}
- {{lang|tr|Canerik}} (Turkey)
- Boddarts Reneclode (Germany)
- Bryanston (UK)
- Cambridge Gage (UK)
- Denniston's Superb (US)
- {{lang|az|Yaşıl Alça}} or Göy Alça (Azerbaijan)
- Golden Transparent (UK)
- Graf Althanns Reneklode (Germany)
- Green Vanilla (Mount Pelion, Greece)
- Große Grüne Reneklode (Germany) / Reine Claude Verte (France)
- Laxton's Gage (UK)
- Laxton's Supreme (UK)
- Meroldts Reneclode (Germany)
- Rainha Cláudia (Portugal)
- {{lang|it|Regina Claudia}} (Italy)
- Reine Claude de Bavay (France)
- Reine Claude d'Oullins (France)
- Uhinks Reneklode (Germany)
- Washington (US)
{{div col end}}
Uses
They are considered to be among the finest dessert plums; Anna Pavord calls them "most ambrosial of all tree fruit"Anna Pavord, [http://www.independent.co.uk/property/gardening/plum-job-a-juicy-guide-to-greengages-and-plums-2335370.html "Plum job: A juicy guide to greengages and plums"] Independent (12 August 2011). and David Karp describes them as "the best fruit in the world".David Karp, “[http://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/01/dining/a-finicky-fruit-is-sweet-when-coddled.html "A Finicky Fruit Is Sweet When Coddled"],” New York Times (1 Sept. 2004).
In culture
Greengages were cultivated in the American colonies, being grown on the plantations of American presidents George Washington (1732–1799) and Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826).
The fruit is referenced in the British novel The Greengage Summer (1958) by Rumer Godden, which was adapted into a film in 1961.
Greengages are mentioned in a Monty Python's Flying Circus sketch as a form of dangerous fruit (as in a food fight).
More recently, the tree features in the novel The Enlightenment of the Greengage Tree (2017) by Iranian-Australian author Shokoofeh Azar.
References
{{Commons category|Prunus domestica subsp. italica}}
{{Reflist}}
{{Hybrid Prunus}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q1283218}}