Mirabelle Tree

2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38

Photo: Valyukha

In a conversation with a friend living in another city, I mentioned that I was going to cook compote from “marabelka”, to which I heard the question: “What is this?”. Strange, I thought. Such a common fruit, it grows wherever the eye sees. But as it turned out, what in my area is called "marabelka" is actually a mirabelle tree, something in between plum and cherry plum, and is a fairly rare tree, common only in Asia Minor, France, Germany, Southern Europe and in the south of the Odessa region in Ukraine (in my homeland).

Mirabel - a variety of plum, which occupies an intermediate place between plum and cherry plum, the fruit of the mirabelle tree (Prunus domestica var. syriaca). The fruit is a drupe. The leaves are slightly smaller than plums in size, but have the same shape. The tree is not very large, 6-7 meters, the trunk is up to 25 cm in diameter. The shape of the crown is spherical, spreading with many thin branches, tolerates frost well (up to -20 ° C).

© Valyukha

Mirabelle blooms later than apricots and peaches, in early May, which ensures consistently large yields.

Flowers are small, reminiscent of apricot rather than plum, pale pink, almost white. Mirabelle begins to fully bear fruit at the age of 5, for the most part, mirabelle is self-fertile. The branch of mirabelle is densely covered with fruits.

© Valyukha

The fruits are round, 2-3 cm in diameter, yellow-orange, the side illuminated by the sun turns red.

© Valyukha

The taste is rich, aromatic. The peel of the fruit is dense, the flesh is soft, almost puree-like at maximum ripeness. The stone practically does not separate from the pulp, which in turn makes it difficult to process the fruit.

© Valyukha

Also, at the time of ripening, the fruits are sensitive to rain: with excess moisture, the fruits burst and quickly rot.

The mirabelle tree is susceptible to clasterosporium disease. It is expressed in damage to the leaves, first, numerous red dots with a diameter of 1-2 mm appear, and later holes. For severe damage, fungicide treatment is required.

The birthplace of mirabelle is Asia Minor, where it was taken out of the plum, but currently the main supplier of a global scale is Lorraine (a region in northeastern France). Up to 15,000 tons of fruits are harvested there annually. The most favorite variety is Nancy, there are also varieties with the name Bona, Malaya, Bolshaya, Zheltaya and late variety "September".

Planting seedlings

The annuals are ready to be transplanted. A pit under the mirabelle is dug twice as much as the roots require. The soil is mixed with fertilizer or compost. A tree is installed in the hole, the roots are straightened, a support for the seedling is carefully placed between the roots. The earth is filled up, while a bottle for irrigation is installed. The upper part of a 1.5 liter bottle is lowered down, the bottom is cut off, remaining above the soil. Watering is carried out through the bottle. The main branch can be left long, but no more than 20 cm, while the lateral ones are cut shorter, 3-4 buds are left. Later, the crown is formed on the braces and spacers. The branches are folded back so that the sun would be enough for everyone. In the first years, it is recommended to break off the set fruits, and until the age of 5 years, to significantly thin out their quantities for the correct, full development of the tree.

Fruit processing

Mirabeli fruits are very juicy, sweet, but with a very hard-to-separate bone, which makes processing difficult, as I wrote above.

Compote from mirabelle is very tasty and aromatic, but like a summer drink. If, for example, one apple is not enough for a rich taste, then mirabelle reveals all its taste and it does not need a companion. Not suitable for seaming for the winter because of the significant bitterness of the bone. In addition, the fruit is easily boiled during cooking, separating from the skin, turning the compote into mashed potatoes. Therefore, for compote lovers, it is recommended to freeze mirabelle and cook in winter, the aroma will remain, and the taste will not deteriorate.

Frozen, and later thawed mirabelle is not suitable for baking, as it lets out a lot of liquid and loses its shape.

Jams and preserves come out of this fruit unusually tasty, but with one simple rule: the stone is removed. This can be done before processing (a very difficult process in which the fruit will not retain its shape), or after heat treatment, the fruits are ground through a sieve. Roasted almonds or walnuts are also added to mirabelle jams.

Mirabelle is also used to produce

alcoholic beverages: plum wine, liqueurs, liqueurs.