Greengages

 We may all speak English (of one variety or another) but we all manage to use words which confuse or puzzle other nations.

My American readers seem not to have come across greengages before,  Actually, when I think about it, some British readers may not have come across them either.  I've never seen them for sale in a supermarket or greengrocer, just the (very) occasional wayside stall and even then, I can't remember when I last saw them for sale.  

They are tiny plums, green even when fully ripe.  They have quite a delicate flavour compared to, say, a Victoria and certainly they are much less highly flavoured than a damson.  They are slightly tart and, other than in jam or chutney, I've only ever eaten them stewed.  They have a stone which is quite large considering the size of the fruit and I had to stone around 150 greengages to get one kilo of stoned fruit.  I've put a £1 coin with the gages in the photo to give you an idea of size.

Rumer Godden wrote a book, "The Greengage Summer" (never read it myself) which was made into a film starring Kenneth More and Susannah York in 1958.  It was released as "The Loss of Innocence" in the USA.