Another Jamaican fruit that I found in DC almost made me want ask my mother to send my primary school uniform the way I was overwhelmed with nostalgia: June Plum. I’ve heard it go by Dew Plum. Whatever the discrepancy in naming, it’s a plum. After you peel it, you can eat it by itself, depending on how ripe it is. The normal way to eat it, however, is with some salt.

                I since I had only bought three (the others didn’t look appealing at all), I looked for a way to get the most out of the last two (for now!). I decided to make a small pasta lunch which incorporated caramelized June plum (I love my brain!). I acknowledged the issue of the thorny inside because of the side and forged ahead in ensuring that only fruit was used. The other ingredients included a tomato, green onion, garlic, all spice, salt, black pepper, thyme, scotch bonnet, linguine and black forest ham.

June Plum & Black Forest Ham Linguine

                The combination banged man, it was bangin’.

Ingredients:

• 1 roma tomato - diced
• 1 green onion - diced
• 1 clove of garlic - diced
• 3 sprigs of thyme
• 2 slices of Black Forest Ham - diced
• 1 tsp scotch bonnet pepper - diced
• half-fistful of linguine
• salt and pepper; 1 pinch of granulated sugar
• 2 tbsp coconut oil 

What I love about it the dish is that it looked so normal but was amazing. Thyme and June Plum are such a fantastic combination. Thyme’s power is comparable to cilantro and one notch below basil and is used as often as salt and black pepper in seasoning.

Directions:

• Start off by boiling the linguine with thyme and some kosher salt until al dente
• Put June Plum to caramelize with 1 ½ pinches of sea salt and 1 pinch of sugar
• Add tomato, onions, black forest ham, garlic, coconut oil and pepper to sauté
• Strain linguine and add to sauté pan (with thyme)
• Serve mix on a plate and squeeze half of lime over the top
• Goes down well with a bottle of Heineken (I’m not a fan of imported Red Stripe…I wait until mi reach yaad).

Eat well,

Til lata,

Gillian M.