Monday, June 10, 2013

Plumb Pudding



The New York Times mentioned that someone had taken a “plumb job.” The writer probably meant a “plum” job, which would mean a job that was very desirable—especially one given as a reward.

A plumb, from the Latin plumbum (meaning the element lead), is “a lead weight on the end of a line used to establish a true vertical.”  By extension of this meaning, plumb can also be an adjective denoting “perfectly straight” (“The window frame isn’t plumb”) or an adverb meaning “without deviation, or absolutely” (“You are plumb crazy” or “I plumb forgot.”)

A plum, on the other hand, from the Latin prunum, is a purplish fruit, and,  because of its juicy sweetness, it can refer to any desirable thing.  Food companies are now trying to persuade us that the food product to which costive oldsters are partial, known for generations as a prune, should really be thought of as a dried plum, which is much more desirable.  After all, no one ever talks about handing out “prunes” as rewards. 

The only reward offered for the Bard of Buffalo Bayou is on a "Wanted" poster, followed by the words "Dead or Alive."  But someone (it must have been a vandal) has crossed out the word "alive."
 
            I think that I shall never hum 
            A tune as lovely as a plum, 
            A plum of gorgeous purple hue, 
            Upon whose skin rest pearls of dew. 

            A plum is tangy on the tongue, 
            Its many virtues go unsung, 
            I’d like to shout and beat a drum, 
            To spread the praises of the plum. 

            But juicy plums, I must agree, 
            Won’t help with regularity, 
            So if you want to go—and soon— 
            I guess you'd better have a prune.

           

2 comments:

  1. A Boiled Plumb-Pudding

    From Hannah Glasse’s Art of Cookery Made Plain and Easy, 1747 ed.
    In this recipe (adapted), you get the impression it is a plumb pudding because it hangs plumb, suspended in the pot while it steams:
    Prepare your pudding cloth: Take a tightly woven linen cloth, about 24 x24 and lay it on the table. Take some softened (not melted) butter and spread a thin layer of butter all over it. DO NOT MISS ANY AREAS. Next, sprinkle a layer of flour on top of the butter layer. Over the sink, trash can, or outside, draw up the corners of the cloth and shake the flour around the cloth to ensure it is completely coated.
    Lay the cloth on the counter, or inside a bowl. Carefully spoon the pudding batter on to the center of the cloth. Draw of the sides of the cloth and twist tightly so that your pudding looks like a ball. Tie it closed with cooking twine, making sure it is a tight as possible, leaving some twine to hang the pudding.
    Take a long wooden spoon and slide the twine loops on to it. When the water has come to a full boil, lay the spoon across the top of the pot. The pudding should be completely immersed in the water, but not touching the bottom. Boil for about two and a half hours, topping off the pot with boiling water as needed. It is very important to keep the water boiling at all times to prevent the pudding from becoming water-logged.

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