Prunes are apparently prunes once again
 

It looks like the calling them "dried plums" marketing experiment was a resounding failure, as this morning, I saw a Sunsweet Prune commercial.

If it tastes like a prune,
And makes you poo like a prune,
It must be a prune.

Dried plums, be gone with you!

Dried plum was always pronounce prune in my home.

You'll notice it was never relabeled "dried plum juice".

So glad to have "as wrinkled as a prune" back in the vocabulary.

The folks over at PPRuNe.org are ecstatic.

How does a prune poo?

Well, "dried plum juice" also sounds like it could be a powdered concentrate (although I'm sure it's obvious that it's not if you're standing in the aisle looking at a 64 oz. bottle).

My great aunt used to eat those things. I remember watching in horror as she would put them on her plate at the retirement home. They looked so disgusting.

Older people seem to like them reconstituted (stewed). I like them right out of the bag. Sunsweet makes them with added cherry and orange essences. I like those best.

I admit to liking fresh plums, dried prunes, stewed prunes, and the semi-dried pruneaux d'Agen by themselves, soaked in various French liqueurs and in various pastries including Far breton.

Prune is a very old-fashioned food in my view. I eat it but I don't go out of my way to buy it.

I love fresh plums though.

I actually like a prune now and again. Not stewed, but just popped right out of the bag. I also have a recipe for a brown bread that uses prunes, but haven't thought about that in years.

The traditional way to eat it in holland is to stew it and bind the liquid with corn starch. It produces a very old fashioned slimy porridge like substance with soft prunes in it. I mean it's okay but it's like grandmothers food. Nobody eat that anymore but we used to get it as children.
If I'd eat them now I'd just eat them as is.

My Mum's rice pudding used to have prunes in it. They are great. I rarely eat them these days though.

I just remembered prune whip. Google it.

Pitted prunes cold from the fridge are good. I like almost all dried fruit though.

I had (wisely) forgotten about stewed prunes until this thread.

Loosened up some memories, did it?

My parents own a plum orchard in Australia (they grow the d'Agen variety). What they do is dry them out semi-dry, then stick them in Armagnac or Port. Like a sponge they then draw in the brandy.

By itself it tastes great, but what gets done in Southern France for example is that they will place a filled Armagnac Prune into a champagne flute and fill it with champagne. Bliss.

The Pruneaux a l'Armagnac also go well with ice cream.

Picking the soft targets there...

If prunes are dried plums, then why is prune juice not called plum juice?

Is grape juice called raisin juice?

A little preview of coming attractions?

No thanks. Had them as a kid. Not having them now. White Castle burgers have the same result. At least they taste good.

Well, you can also get "plum juice"--in Japan, anyway.

I think there must be some difference in processing--the "plum juice" was light in color, whereas "prune juice" is the color of prunes.

I've never had prune juice, but the plum juice was quite refreshing.

I've heard you can get plum drunk on slivovitz.

Probably better than pruno.

I have had plum brandy and I know the Japanese make plum wine. I would hesitate to drink prune spirits no matter who made it. And especially if it was made in a prison toilet. Which I suppose is only a couple steps removed from some of the moonshine I've been offered.

Grape juice isn't made from dried grapes. Prune juice is
presumably made from dried plums.

It would be an epic grog bog in the morning I imagine.;)

I've never go the appeal of prune juice.

A geriatrics professor once explained it to our team like this:

"Age inversely correlates with interest in sex and positively correlates with interest in a satisfactory bowel movement."

Talk to an 80 year old. ;)

In that case, I look forward to the return of persimmons, perry and pilchards.

Plum brandy (slivovice/rakija/palinka/etc.) is very common in eastern eurpoe and depending on the skill of the maker it can be very delicious. Many people make it at home.

The confusing point here is that whilst plum juice exists, the juices, wines and licors from Japan that are translated as "plum" aren't made from plums.
Japanese/Chinese "plum" is a different fruit which is related to (and shares characteristics with) both plums and apricots. The Japanese plum (ume) topic gets even more complicated as they are dried/preserved in a variety of ways; so there are a wide range of juices and preparations depending on what kind of ume is used and whether it was fresh, dried or pickled.

Personally, I'll pit a plum and liquidise it to add to a drink/juice (and whether you peel it and/or have yellow plums, greengages or dark victoria plums has an impact on consistency and taste) but I don't do the same with prunes - for the same reason that I'll add grapes to a smoothie but not raisins.