Plum sauce

photos and recipe by Manon Gaudreau

• About 2-3 pounds (1kg) Damsom plums (small tart plums)
• 1 tsp sea salt (note: this is half the salt of the original recipe)
• 1/3 cup maple syrup (or raw honey)
• 1/4 cup homemade whey

Cook the whole plums in a little water until they fall apart. Put through a ricer to obtain a plum sauce, and discard the remaining pits and skins. Allow to cool until just warm. Add salt, maple syrup and whey. Mix well.
Put in a quart size wide-mouth jar (I used a recycled 43 ounce applesauce jar). The top of the sauce should be at least 1 inch below the top of the jar. Cover tightly.
Keep at room temperature for 2 days, then put in the refrigerator. Use within 2 months. You may omit the whey and the fermentation, but then put in the refrigerator right away and consume within 2 weeks or freeze.
This sauce can be used as a salad dressing as is, or with olive oil. Dilute it with water and drink as an alternative to lemonade. Add it to your smoothies, your fruit salads, your morning cereals or your desserts. Add more sweetener to your taste. A good source of nutrients, enzymes and pro-biotics (if cultured with whey).
Variation: Replace the tart plums by fresh cherries or berries such as boysenberries, blackberries or raspberries. Do not make with strawberries as they are too acid for the lacto-fermentation process.