Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
farmers to fear a potential glut in the market in coming years. Is it possible that eventually
they will grow more cherries than we can eat?
The answer to that question is probably no, but wouldn't it be nice for us to see them
try? Cherries mark the transition from spring to summer the same way strawberries celeb-
rate the beginning of spring and pears the start of fall. Cherries are the first of the year's
stone fruits to be harvested, and in many ways the sweetest, even if only because of that.
Still to come are apricots, plums, peaches and nectarines, and even later almonds (yup,
they're all cousins from the Prunus family). Like the rest of the clan, cherries rely for their
flavor on the delicate balance between sweetness and acidity. That elusive thing called
"cherry flavor" counts, of course, but it is hard to quantify. Most of the distinctive taste
notes of cherries come from either almondlike benzaldehyde or clovelike eugenol. In taste
tests, it seems to follow (but not necessarily be caused by) the accumulation of sugars: the
sweeter the cherry, generally, the greater the flavor intensity.
How do you pick a sweet cherry? The key is color. Remember that most cherries on the
market spring from the family called "Blacks." This is no accident. The darker red these
cherries are, the more likely they are to be sweet (allowing for variation from season to
season and orchard to orchard). The term of art that cherry growers use for a dead-ripe
Bing is "mahogany," and that's a good description. With blushing cherries, such as Rain-
iers, the red will never get that dark, but the golden cheek should be deeply colored and
not at all strawlike. Texture is another important aspect of the cherry's appeal. Unless you
somehow happen upon a stray Duke or Heart (some are still out there, but mainly in an-
tique gardens), cherries should be firm enough to be slightly crisp. Cherries can get over-
ripe. When that happens, the acidity drops, resulting in a piece of fruit that tastes simply
sweet. More important, the cherry softens at the same time. Overripe cherries tend toward
a kind of flaccidness, as well as pitting and shrinking. The color is also more matte, rather
than being bright and shining.
The types of cherries we get today have generally been favored for eating out of hand,
and there is certainly nothing wrong with that. But they do cook well, too, though perhaps
they lack the depth and tang of a great Montmorency (a sour cherry). This can be worked
around: adding a dash of balsamic vinegar to cooked sweet cherries will add much of the
"bottom" that might be missing. Don't overdo it - think of it as a subtle bit of makeup, not
a mask.
When you're adding cherries to savory dishes - something that should be done only
rarely and with due deliberation - use a good red wine vinegar instead. Happily, heating
cherries intensifies their perfume, and even more so if the pits are left intact. (The pits
