What separates the greengage from a plum? Some say it is purely in the eating: if, when you bite into a plum-shaped fruit, you feel your mouth filled with the nectar of the gods rather than the flesh, then it is a greengage.

Greengages are a type of European plum, often vivid green in colour. They display the same dusty blue-ish halo of their parent fruit and inside the delicate flesh is aromatic, honey-sweet and heavenly. Best eaten raw with the juice dripping down your chin and the moment savoured but they also make delicious crumbles and fruit pies. For greengage jam top up the pectin levels with lemon juice to help the set.