Pickled Cherries

How many times have we said ah!.. if only we could experience summer in the heart of winter…

Those sun rays that have ripened a fruit…because when you eat a tasty cherry it’s a bit like an atomic bomb..concentrated taste, like it has stored inside it all the warmth of summer..all the rays of the sun…

I think that’s the main reason we make spoon sweets.

I realise the practicality of the thing, especially in the old days when there were no fridges and its was easier to store things like that otherwise they would spoil.

But to have a spoonful of summer fruit in your mouth in the heart of winter is a magical thing. And like magic we like it a lot.

But today I won’t talk about sweets….

I made some pickled cherries and they have sugar in them but aren’t sweet and have quite a lot of vinegar!

Pickling is a really great invention..and it came about out of need, as storing food was a serious problem for our forebears. It has gone through many stages and today this is one of my favourites.

A real surprise when you bite into it..

I first saw the recipe in a book by Diana Henry and it was still winter and I was waiting for summer to come to try it out. And it came.. and I tried it, and it was just as I expected. A fruit both sweet and sour that has retained the sun rays within it.

In my pickling I usually use apple cider vinegar as it’s lighter and our local vinegars are just general vinegars …This is the basic difference in the recipe of Diana; and also with the herbs, as I used those to my own tastes..

Try it you will like it!

Diffuculty: 2 of 3

Duration:40 minutes

Serves:an army

Ingredients

1.5kg ripe cherries but not over ripe

I litre Apple cider Vinegar

1.5kg granulated sugar

1 cinnamon stick

30 szechuan peppercorns

5 Cloves

1 Star Anise

Method

Wash the cherries and dry well.

In a saucepan put the sugar, the vinegar and the herbs and bring to the boil on a low heat.

While doing that take a pin and prick each cherry one or two times so they don’t burst during the cooking process.

DON’T remove the stalks or the pips.

Turn up the heat and place the cherries in the saucepan.

Wait until they boil and count for 3 mins.

Take out the cherries with a slotted spoon and put them into a bowl.

Continue to boil the liquid for a further 10 mins until the liquid starts to become like a syrup…if you have a cooking thermometer make sure it has reached 105c

Turn off the heat and leave the liquid to cool.

While this is cooling put the cherries in as many jars as they need to fill them to the top.

When the syrup is cooled down pour over the cherries to the top of the jar if possible.

These can be kept in the fridge for 4-6 months

You probably won’t need all the syrup to fill the jars but don’t throw it away. We place what is left in the empty vinegar jars and use as a superb salad dressing!