It's Cherry Season 2007!

[Fat Guy]

I hope I'm not the only one who's ecstatic that the cherries have started arriving in full force, at least they have in the markets in the New York area.

How much do you love cherries? Express yourself.

What are you going to do with them? Just eat them until you're sick? Cook something?

Where do you get yours? Where are they from? How do they seem this year?

Let the wild cherry rumpus start.

[Pam R]

I am as thrilled as you are. Bring them on.

They've started to arrive here as well, though the bag I bought yesterday are not yet what they should be, I love cherries so much I don't care.

The bag says this batch is from 'the USA'. I can't wait for the BC cherries to start arriving. They'll sell them out of trucks on the side of the roads into and out of the city.

My first choice is to eat them as is - a bowlful for breakfast is a good way to start the day. But I did make a cherry/rhubarb compote for a column last week that would be great served with vanilla ice cream.

[maggiethecat]

I am as thrilled as you are. Bring them on.

They've started to arrive here as well, though the bag I bought yesterday are not yet what they should be, I love cherries so much I don't care.

The bag says this batch is from 'the USA'.  I can't wait for the BC cherries to start arriving. 

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They hit the markets in Ottawa too --they're American cherries, and as Pam said, not as good a local cherries, but they'll do. I was washing a couple of pounds and putting them in a bowl when my mother, who's very sick, said: "What is life?"

Well, heck. I think I said something clueless, like:"All we've got, who we are, the people we love," and she bust a gut laughing. She pointed to my hands. Suckered again: Yes, life's a bowl of cherries.

I'm going to make a cherry clafouti with the other half of the bag. If I'm here for a little longer the stunning Montmorency cherries will appear, stoned, in huge buckets in the humblest groceterias. Then it's serious cherry canning, pies, liquer making... yum.

[dockhl]

Maggie~

Best to your Mom, I love her spirit.

I love them fresh, out of hand, spitting the pits, but what is the best way to preserve this bounty for later?

K

[Fat Guy]

In this area, there are cherries from somewhere in California pretty early on in the spring, however it's only towards the end of May that they seem to come on full force. Last weekend we were visiting some friends and they had the first batch of Costco cherries, which seemed to be from California. I tasted a couple but they weren't ready for prime time -- I could tell that by looking, before even tasting. Today, however, the cherries at Costco in Yonkers looked pretty good, so I made my first cherry purchase of the season.

They were not fantastic -- the ones from California usually aren't in my experience -- but they were quite good.

I have a somewhat baroque procedure for eating cherries, which I picked up from an acquaintance who spent some time working at Le Cirque under Daniel Boulud. Cherries, as those of you who are fond of cherries might agree, are in the category of fruits that taste good cold. I've always felt this way. As much as I like to eat them the second I buy them, I think they're more rewarding after a sojourn in the refrigerator.

Anyway, the trick that came down from Le Cirque via Adam Perry Lang (who is now a well regarded New York chef in his own right, but at the time was a Culinary Institute of America student on externship, when I was in a law school study group with his roommate) is this: once the cherries are washed (I use a fruit-and-vegetable wash and multiple rinses), you put them in a stainless bowl with a bunch of ice cubes and you toss them around. When you serve them this way, the flavors really pop.

I'm looking forward to the ones from Washington -- they should be at my local Costco soon enough.

[dockhl]

In this area, there are cherries from somewhere in California pretty early on in the spring, however it's only towards the end of May that they seem to come on full force. Last weekend we were visiting some friends and they had the first batch of Costco cherries, which seemed to be from California. I tasted a couple but they weren't ready for prime time

Not Costco, Templeton Farmer's Market

Thanks for the tip !

(BTW, my tree had 5 !! cherries this year, altho I have a million little apricots that look like they'll be ripe in two weeks ! Dunno what that is all about........)

[Kouign Aman]

I take cherries to the movies, instead of popcorn, during the few glorious months its an option.

We leave em in a bowl on the table during the evening and watch them disappear, with any leftovers getting refrigerated til the next day.

Last week I sliced cherries and cooked them with butter and a tiny bit of sugar, then served them atop a dutchbaby pancake. Oh my yum. Almost makes me want to buy a cherry pitter.

[Loois]

We just moved from Atlanta to NYC and it seems the cherries appear here earlier than down south. I've been buying them from a corner vendor almost daily.

My favorite summer dessert- steep a split vanilla bean in port with a little sugar, poach the cherrries in this liquid until it reduces some, then serve over Greek yogurt. I pit the cherries for company, but if it's just me, I skip that step.

[slkinsey]

Cherries, as those of you who are fond of cherries might agree, are in the category of fruits that taste good cold.

Just ask Zachary Taylor.

[russ parsons]

yeah, but come on, they're nothing compared to those January chilean cherries, right?

seriously, this is a very good year for california cherries, which are the ones that come in first (oregon and washington start in a couple of weeks). we're really at the southernmost boundary of cherry climate and often we don't get the chill the trees need. This year, of course, we got plenty (remember the citrus freeze?).

[Tess]

Sour cherries from Michigan start to appear in the Chicago farmer's markets at the end of this month. We are absolutely fanatical about these; we eat them with Greek yogurt, make ice cream out of them and put them up in brandy or bourbon to give out as gifts. Last year I got a huge sack of pitted frozen ones from a farmer when the season ended. We are just finishing those up and I hope to get another this year.

[snowangel]

I agree that they need to be eaten cold. Really cold. Peter (age 11) has the best method. Take the bowl out onto the deck, place on the railing. Eat cherries to one's hearts content, tossing the stems into the yard, and spitting the pits also into the yard. Eat more than you should (the other night he ate nothing but cherries for dinner). When you feel sick, go in and lay down for a bit, then go have a good sit on the toilet.

I sort of have the same philosophy about really great peaches and local strawberries. The season is so fleeting, and the memories of the taste will much longer that the stomach trouble memories.

[Smithy]

Snowangel, we must be related.

[tsquare]

I have my bowl of ice cold Chelan (organic? Didn't check.) cherries at my side right now. I bought them from the farmer's market yesterday, walking distance from home. Deep purple, firm, fully ripe. They are sweet in the back of the mouth, with a tart bite at the front. Each stem perfectly attached. Fingers and tongue are stained.

[orangeman747]

Ah so true!

It's so wonderful when you bite into a big, juicy cherry and you just perfectly miss the pit and get a big piece of delicious cherry without the pit... its somewhat similar to the experience of biting into a tortellini and having it explode in your mouth. It's fabulous.

Just though I'd share that.

[Fat Guy]

Couple of questions:

- What are you all paying per pound for cherries, and where?

- Am I the only person who gets a little sneezy after eating a large quantity of cherries?

[JeanneCake]

Depending on whether I buy them at the local grocery store ($4.98/# - they'll come down soon) or the high priced gourmet grocery ($6.98/#) the prices will start to fall in a week or so.

I have a bag chilling in the fridge right now!

Yes, you're the only one getting sneezy. We just smile a lot at our house after eating cherries. How can you be in a bad mood after that kind of windfall!

[snowangel]

Geez. I'm only paying #2.89/lb (and a buy one pound, get one free with The Coupon and an additional $15.00 purchase at the local supermarket.

Sneezey? I'm assuming you mean nasally sneezy. Not like Peter when he's eaten enough cherries to give himself a big stomach ache.

I keep telling him we should try a dessert with them, but they keep disappearing from the fridge, and the pile of stems and seeds is increasing...

[Shalmanese]

99c a lb suckas!

[tsquare]

99c a lb suckas!

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you buying junk at Safeway? They were 2# for $7.00 at the farmer's market.

[Fat Guy]

Pretty sure I paid $8.99 for a 4-pound box at Costco, so that's, um, let me see here . . . just under $2.25 a pound.

[prasantrin]

I'm paying Y299 for 200 grams. ($5.58US/lb)

I'm hoping to get a better deal at Costco today.

Edited to add: Costco was about the same price, at Y1300 for 2lbs. and they didn't taste very good, so I put them back.

I can't wait until the Japanese cherries come out. They're even more expensive, but they have amazing flavour!

Edited June 8, 2007 by prasantrin (log)

[lancastermike]

Within a mile or so of my house is Cherry Hill Orchard. Guess what they sell? Well, not yet anyway, her in Lancaster County PA. But soon. My late father, Charlie, loved to go pick cherries. I just let them do the pickin. I mostly go for the sour pie cherries. I get a bunch that I pit and freeze to provide the filling for holiday season pies. They certainly do have sweet cherries and I like them out of hand. They have also proved a great source of fruit woods, apple, peach, cherry, for my smoking obsession.

[kristin_71]

This means I can attempt claufoutis! Yea!

[Kajikit]

Mmmm... cherries! DH bought me a treat the other day - cherries, peaches (which were nice but not as nice as they could be...) and fresh blackberries... so I made a compote for dessert tonight.