The market · Fruit · The Middle East, Northern and Central Europe

Sour cherries

Cherries too sharp to eat from the tree and far better cooked — they keep their sourness and colour through baking, jam and sauces in a way sweet cherries don't.

sour · bright · almondy

What to do with it

Ibu Sari's Beef rendangSour cherry would cut through its richnessAna Etxarri's Pil pilSour cherry would cut through its richnessTolu Adeyemi's SuyaSour cherry would cut through its richnessTolu Adeyemi's Rendang, the Lagos waySour cherry would cut through its richness

Kinds

Morello
Dark red flesh and juice; for Black Forest gateau, jars and cherry brandy.
Amarena
Small, dark Italian cherries, preserved in syrup.
Montmorency
Bright red skin with clear juice; America's pie cherry.

Goes with

lambduckricedark chocolate

Knowing it

Where to buy
Pick-your-own, farm shops, and Turkish, Persian and Eastern European grocers in summer. Frozen and jarred all year; jarred morellos in juice are a good stand-by.
A little history
Albaloo polo, Persian rice with sour cherries, and Hungarian cold sour cherry soup are two of their best-known dishes.
Worth knowing
Stone them over a bowl to catch the juice. With duck or lamb, reduce them with stock and a little sugar rather than fighting their sourness.

More fruit, in season with it

FruitApricotshoneyed, floral, tartsoursweetNot cooked here yetFruitBlackcurrantstart, berry-like, muskysourNot cooked here yetFruitCherriessweet, almondysoursweetNot cooked here yetFruitGooseberriessour, grassy, floralsourNot cooked here yet