Try not to say it out loud when one is in earshot, but plums used to be pretty… er, “wide” around the “mid-region.” That is to say, they were fat. Really fat, in fact.
It was kind of a well-known thing — plums couldn’t even go to the grocery store without some little punk Bing Cherries pointing and laughing. Listen, nobody’s throwing around any blame here, but plums really let themselves go.
But it’s cool now! No, seriously — plums went on the Atkins diet and began shedding pounds like Jonah Hill. Actually, to kind of go with the idea, they even dropped the second “p” from their name (yes, they used to be called “plumps,” but they’re really sensitive about it so I wouldn’t bring it up). So if you see one around, I’d compliment it on all its latest accomplishments, but shy away from the “have you lost weight?” hullabaloo. They’d rather forget it entirely.
The Truth About Plums
- China leads the world in plum production with over 5 million plums grown in 2009. By contrast, Serbia, the #2 plum producer, only grew 662,000
- Plums are actually a member of the rose family
- The name “plum” is derived from the ancient Roman historian, Pliny the Elder, who believed that apricots were a type of plum from Armenia
