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Lorraine
A blue-violet plum veiled in bloom, less celebrated than its golden cousin the mirabelle, yet just as deeply rooted in the orchards, tarts and memory of Lorraine villages.
Fruit from Lorraine.
According to the regional media outlet BLE Lorraine, the quetsche originated in Macedonia and arrived naturally in Lorraine during the 17th century, where it adapted particularly well to the silica-clay soils. Its name, however, traces back to an even older history: the association de valorisation du terroir Steinhart, in northern Moselle, links it to the Damascus plum, brought back to Europe by the Crusaders between 1095 and 1148. The word 'quetsche' itself is thought to come from Old Franconian, close to the German Zwetschge; its presence is recorded as early as 1748 in German-speaking Moselle and Luxembourg, and then in 1775 in Alsatian dialect. Today, the quetsche remains primarily associated with Alsace, but its cultivation also extends across Lorraine, particularly in the Vosges, as well as into Germany and Switzerland.
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In the Steinhart, old standard quetsche trees, mostly planted between the wars, are ageing without being replaced: land consolidation, the disappearance of hedgerows and a waning interest in a 'non-modern organic' fruit have reduced the tree's place in the landscape. In the 1990s, Établissement Kieffer in Neumiehle (Kerbach) was still collecting quetsches from individuals to resell to processors — between 350 and 1,500 tonnes depending on the year —, before ceasing this activity in the early 2000s. Regional production is sustained today by Lorraine fruit cooperatives, which market the quetsche alongside Mirabelle de Lorraine, their flagship product. Around Farebersviller, in northern Moselle, the Confrérie de la Prune et de la Quetsche Lorraine, born in 1993 and founded in 1999, holds a festive chapter celebrating the fruit every third Saturday in September.
Appearance
Elongated, oblong plum with bluish-purple to dark purple skin covered in bloom — a fine, natural whitish veil that protects the fruit from heat and is not a treatment residue.
Aroma
Delicate and characteristic fragrance, typical of the ripe fruit.
Taste
Greenish to yellow flesh (sometimes orange-green), sweet and delicately tart; the quetsche is a moderately sweet fruit, averaging around 12%.
Texture
Firm, juicy flesh with an easily detached stone (freestone).
Several quetsches stand out within the wider plum family:
the most common, also grown in Lorraine: small oblong fruit of around 20 g, dark purple, with orange-green flesh and a free stone.
a variety of German origin, with larger fruit (around 40 g).
a yellow-coloured plum, particularly prized when dried into prunes.
Harvesting begins in late August and quetsches remain on market stalls until October.`
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Fresh and fully ripe, the quetsche can be enjoyed plain or added to a fruit salad; roasted, it pairs with goat's cheese or feta and a few walnuts. In baking, it is made into tarts — the base sprinkled with ground almonds or crumbled biscuit to absorb its juice —, clafoutis, crumbles and jams. On the savoury side, it traditionally accompanies game, pork, rabbit or goose, and is also preserved in vinegar as a chutney.
Fresh Quetsche de Lorraine bears no official quality sign (PDO (AOP), PGI (IGP), Label Rouge, TSG (STG), organic) to date. A designation does indeed exist under the name 'Quetsch d'Alsace', but it protects the eau-de-vie distilled from the fruit in Alsace — not the fresh fruit, and its geographical area does not cover the Lorraine départements.
Cooperative (Union of Agricultural Cooperatives)
Fruit cooperative
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Vegafruits describes itself as a Lorraine fruit cooperative founded in 1991 through the merger of two cooperatives, Jardins de Lorraine and Vergers de Lorraine, with the aim of revitalising the Mirabelle de Lorraine sector — the region's emblematic fruit, holding PGI (IGP) status since 1995. While mirabelles remain its primary business, the cooperative also markets other fruits from its growers: Quetsche de Lorraine, Cerise Montmorency and myrtilles des Vosges.
The cooperative reports bringing together around 200 growers farming 600 hectares of orchards, yielding an annual production of around 8,000 tonnes of fruit, and employs 350 seasonal packing-station workers. In 2003, it invested in an IQF (Individual Quick Freezing) facility that stones and freezes fruit in under ten minutes at -25 °C to preserve its colour and flavour, followed in 2014 by a purée-processing unit supplying the food industry (nectars, ice creams, compotes, candied fruit). Since 2017, some of these purées have supplied its own brand of fruit pouches, Minute Fruitée — available in five flavours with no added sugar or flavourings, whose production equipment was partly funded through a crowdfunding campaign involving 70 growers and employees. It also cold-presses the kernels of its mirabelles and cherries to produce virgin oils designed for skin and hair care.
| Address | 60-62 Rue Charles Courtois, 54210 Saint-Nicolas-de-Port, France |
| 03 83 48 85 85 | |
| contact@vegafruits.fr | |
| vegafruits.fr | |
| Facebook page | |
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All production is certified organic, since 2010. |