For me, the damson is the perfect foodstuff. It is hyper-seasonal and hyper-local; a quintessential taste of Britain throughout its fleeting season. However, like many ingredients now thought of as ‘native’ to the UK, this variety of plum has in fact traveled across many lands before reaching our shores, picking up resilience and leaving behind diversity and variety along the way. The damson (or Damask plum) is said to have originated in Damascus, Syria and probably found its way to us through the Romans via Italy and western Europe. Upon its arrival it is thought to have been grafted to the root stock of the blackthorn, the wild plant that is responsible for supplying us with sloes at the beginning of autumn.
Damons have been rooted in our soil for over 1,000 years and everybody knows at least one person with a tree in their back garden. They weave though our canon of literature, from Chaucer to Shakespeare, and are a firm favourite for jams sold in farm shops and country fairs the land over. You can’t find a damson in a supermarket – its urgency to ripen whilst still dangling from the branch makes it a worrisome traveller – but that’s what gives the fruit its nostalgic romance. If you want to enjoy a damson you’re probably going to have to pick one for yourself.
While it might seem that the best way to enjoy a damson is sat at the base of the tree from which it was plucked, if you can get a bucketful home without too much spoilage there is gain to be had in the preservation of these sour little plums.