Pluots are a fruit that are part plum and part apricot, but there are also some that are part nectarine as well. Learn all about the Dapple Fire Pluot or Plumcot that is technically a nectacotum.
What if I told you someone managed to cross together a plum, an apricot, and a nectarine and combine it into one fruit. You may think there is some kind of crazy, mad scientist stuff going on. But all of these fruits are related and are thus compatible for such behavior.
Pluots have become all the rage over the last 10 years for their sweet flavors and beautiful colors. They are some of the most colorful fruit in all the produce department. I discovered that there is one pluot that while often just called a pluot actually has some nectarine in it. So the more accurate name would be nectacotum. "Necta" for nectarine, "cot" for apricot, and "um" for plum. Certainly isn't an easy name to say 10 ties in a row, really fast!!!
That variety is called Dapple Fire. Let me tell you all about it!
Description
This is a dapple style pluot. These types have a red skin with brown spots or streaks. They have a "dappled" appearance. The word dapple means "mark with spots or rounded patches". Dapple Dandy is the most commonly found "dappled pluot". They are also marketed as "Dinosaur Eggs".
Dapple Fire could be mistaken for Dapple Dandy, however the Dapple Fire has more distant line, that remind me of a nectarine. I posted a picture below with an arrow showing you what I am talking about.
I saw that line and knew immediately at the store what I was getting even when the sign at the grocery store (WinCo Foods) just said pluots. You don't often get the exact variety name listed which frustrated me for pluots as they have distinct flavors. Later on I was back at the store and I saw them bringing out more boxes of pluots and I read the side of the box and it showed I was correct.
The inside of the fruit is a bright red color with a small pit. Pluots are going to be clingstone, which means you won't be able to just pop that pit out like you can with freestone peaches.
📅 Dapple Fire Pluots are harvested around mid July, so expect to find them for about a month after the harvest date. Pluots will store in cold storage for a couple weeks but they do need to ripen at room temperature to be good eating.
⭐ Review
Here is what I think of this pluot variety on a scale of 1-10.
| Acidity | 5 |
| Flavor | 7 |
| Sweetness | 8 |
| Juiciness | 9 |
In most plums crosses the plum characteristics seem to dominate. That is the case here. It tastes like many of the other pluots. I do have to say that it does have a subtle nectarine flavor, especially on the finish of the fruit as you chew it. Maybe I would not have noticed if I didn't know this was part nectarine, but I do think it's there.
More About Pluots
Want to become a pluot expert? Start at my post on When Pluots are in Season? And then check out these posts as well:
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