[Sca-cooks] plums

[Elaine Koogler]

Stefan li Rous wrote:

>I've heard of plum wine before, but it has always been mentioned in  
>connection to Japan.
>
>Do we have evidence of plum wine being made in medieval Europe?  
>Perhaps it just that a lot more grapes were grown than plums, so  
>grape wine was more prevalent? Does/did Japan grow grapes? If not,  
>perhaps that would also be a reason that plum wines are more  
>associated with Japan.
>
>Stefan
>  
>
According to Ishige Naomichi in /The History and Culture of Japanese 
Food, /grapes did not grow well in Japan, therefore, in period (as best 
I could figure) rice was used almost exclusively to make alcoholic 
beverages.  There was also mention of wines made from plums, in period.  
But they did not use grapes

Kiri