Summer Rumpot
This is the time of year to start what the Germans call a rump topf, or rum pot- a truly gorgeous idea that, once you try it, you will never fail to repeat each year.
All you need is a capacious glazed earthen wear jar with a heavy, well fitting lid, or some such container.
The Germans use highly ornamented pots with fruit and flower designs to look attractive on the table, but a plain one does just as well.
The idea is to use a mixture of soft fruits as they come in season. The basic recipe is a pound of fruit, half a pound of sugar, and a finger of Jamaican rum.
A suggestion for the rum pot is to buy blackcurrants, red currents, strawberries, black cherries, peaches, blackberries, plums, and one and a half bottles of rum.
It scents the whole kitchen when the lid is lifted, and as for the taste …
It will be perfect as a dessert at Christmas, and if the whole contents are not used up before the next summer, the next year's fruit just goes in on top of the remainder, and the pot gets going once more. Do try it.
This is the way to pack summer into your pot.
Start with the strawberries- the first fruit of summer. Wash the strawberries and let them dry. Place the fruit in a dish and add sugar, using half the weight of the fruit. Leave it for half an hour so the sugar is well absorbed and the flavour is extracted.
Now, place the fruit and any remaining sugar into your rum pot. Pour enough brown Jamaican rum over the fruit to cover it by about a finger's width; this amounts to approximately three-quarters of a bottle of rum, one pound of fruit, and half a pound of sugar initially, but much less afterwards.
If you want to do a particularly good job, place a plate over the fruit so that it is submerged, provided the shape of the pot allows it. After that, close the pot and put it in a cool place. From time to time, check to see that there is still enough liquid in the pot. Don't forget that there needs to be a finger's width of rum above the fruit. If there isn't, add some more rum.
When the next fruit in season becomes available, do exactly the same as with the strawberries, but with one difference: for every few pounds of fruit, only add half a pound of sugar and half of a 70 cl bottle of rum, or just enough to keep the fruit covered.
If you miss the opportunity to get the fruit fresh, you can use frozen fruit instead. Remember that some frozen fruit may have added sugar; the amount will be mentioned on the packet. Make up the sugar to be half the weight of the fruit.
Your Rumpot Calendar
May – June
One pound of strawberries, half a pound of sugar, and rum to cover a finger's breadth.
June – July
One pound of cooking cherries with stones, how of a pound of sugar. Enough room to cover
July – August
One pound of apricots or peaches, peeled, de-stoned and halved, half a pound of sugar. Rum to cover.
August – September
One pound of blackberries, half a pound of sugar, more.
One pound of plums, stoned, half a pound of sugar, more rum
October – November
Pears and/or pineapple cut up, and any other fruit available, half a pound of sugar, more rum to cover.
After the last addition of fruit in November, let the pot sit for a few days before tasting. It can be stored indefinitely.
Wine Equipment & Ingredients
