Natural fermentation of plums in beeswax
By Nordic Food Lab
Is it possible that waxing fruits, a symbol of our large-scale food distribution system that values appearance and practicality over taste, could be used instead for deliciousness?
In fact, many fruits when ripe produce a natural wax coating on their surface to reduce the water permeability of the skin. Pick an apple from a tree, rub it on your shirt and it shines; the natural waxes on the apple’s surface are polished. In addition to the wax, the surface of these fruits often host different wild yeasts and other small ‘debris’. Large- scale producers, in order to get rid of these yeasts and other microorganisms which can decrease a fruit’s shelf life, wash their fruits then recoat them with approximately the same amount of edible wax.
But here at the Lab we love wild yeast and bacteria.
At the end of September the plum season was nearing an end in Denmark. We received a box of pristine plums one day from our plum lady in Sweden. The fruits were perfectly ripe – golden, blushed with red, and, we assumed, covered with natural wax and yeast.
(via lake-lady)