Spring in Palestine growing up meant fuzzy green almonds picked right off the trees.  And these crunchy, sour plums also called Karaz akhdar. 

Sour plums, fated to never ripen to gold, sold on street carts by the mounds and always enjoyed dunked in salt.  

They are half snack, half cure- to that feeling of being homesick and longing to the warm spring in Palestine. 

Sour plums botanically classified as Prunus cerasifera, are unripe fruits.  The fruit slowly gets soft and sweet tasting by end of the season.  There are many different varieties of unripe green plums generally classified as sour plums, or sometimes known as Cherry plums. They have various names across the Arab world, Turkey and Iran. In Iraq they are called kujah, in Lebanon and Syria  janarek, in Turkey Erik, or Persian Gojeh Sabz. Let me know in the comments What you call them! And if you too have a sour love story :)