Elvas Fruits - ONLY AVAILABLE OCTOBER - JANUARY

In Portugal, long famous for its national sweet tooth and wonderously varied confection, plums, apricots, figs and peaches have been preserved in this way since the days of Henry the Navigator. First introduced to England by Port wine shippers who "discovered" these wonderful fruits, the Sugar Plum was soon established as a Christmas favourite. However, in recent years, production of these sweetmeats has declined and we were in danger of losing part of our traditional Christmas feast.

The Elvas plum, in fact a greengage, is grown in the special microclimatic conditions of the Elvas region of the Alentejo, close to Portugal`s border with Spain. Continuing a tradition many centuries old, the plums are specially selected and harvested in July, cooked and soaked in sugar syrup for six weeks, then washed and sun-dried, when each plum is individually prepared and packaged.