Cherries galore!
Seasonal food is the very essence of French cuisine and something I have long advocated and loved. As each month passes something new comes in to season, so what we cook and eat shifts in its pattern. In the summer months, when a fruit or vegetable is in abundance, the focus is on harvesting and finding ways to enjoy the seasonal offering, as well as preserving some for later months, wasting as little as possible, perhaps leaving a little for the birds. Cherries appeared in May and have now finished. For us sadly yet again this year our cherry trees fell victim to the late frosts, the beautiful blossom too damaged to produce fruit, so not a single cherry made an appearance. However the markets stalls were brimming with a huge variety of cherries through May and June, in all shades of red, the scent and colour as you pass by enticing you to stop and fill a bag to bursting with juicy ripe cherries.
I have been immensely lucky as two neighbours offered me masses of cherries. I have had to pick them of course (eating a few here and there, lips faintly cherry red, a bit of a giveaway!), learning to ensure they have their stalks intact, and have returned home laden with different cherries – dark juicy eating cherries, red and yellow Napoleon cherries that are better for jam or preserving, and other cherries too – the varieties escape me. I didn’t really know, if I am being honest, that there were so many varieties!
Cherries once picked don’t last long, so we have eaten many a bowlful of delicious juicy fresh cherries, enjoying the fleeting moment of their season. I have also set to in the kitchen finding ways to preserve them beyond jam making. My fingers were stained from pitting cherries, apron spattered with red juice. I don’t own a cherry pitter so have been cutting them and ejecting the stones. I then discovered that the narrow end of a chopstick does a great job, and so much faster. However in the end my neighbour must have felt sorry for me (or the state of my hands) as she lent me her cherry pitter! This something I didn’t know my kitchen needed but now I am on the look-out for one of my very own. (it also pits olives, so doubly useful)
I have made jam – cherry and jumbleberry using the last of strawberries and raspberries, cherry compote, cherries in syrup for stirring through fromage blanc or Greek yogurt and for the first time have frozen trays of whole (but pitted) cherries for use in winter when cherries are but a distant memory. We have eaten cherry clafoutis, the vegan version that I have shared with you (see Recipe Blog post: Seasonal food and recipes: July) and a rather lovely, really easy cherry and mascarpone cheesecake (see the feature photo at the top).
I then discovered a recipe for spicy cherry chutney. Well you have to try different things don’t you? We love chutney and I love making it – I find it quite therapeutic, although pitting kilos of cherries tested my love of preserve making a tiny bit. The first batch was tasted immediately. Normally we wait at least 3 months so that the flavours can develop. The chutney was lovely, not that spicy. More cherries arrived so I made another batch with a little more cinnamon and ginger this time. We are now well-stocked for cherry chutney.
In an effort to vary the cherry preserving, I started a rumtopf – we had various bottles of rum in the cupboard, and don’t really drink it – perfect. Rumtopf is German in origin and is a great way to preserve summer fruits, a whole variety of them, for use in the winter months, traditionally at Christmas. I have started with strawberries, wild strawberries, raspberries and cherries, added apricots and will soon add plums and peaches and later apples, pears and blackberries and anything else that comes my way. We are looking forward to see how it works. I also found a wonderful old French recipe for cherries in Armagnac. Again we had a bottle in the cupboard. For this you leave a small bit of stalk on each cherry and add sugar and Armagnac, turning the preserving jar from time to time to ensure the sugar is all dissolved. I gather the longer you leave it the better both the cherries and liqueur are!
I feel like I have made good use of all the cherries we were given this year and am so grateful to those who so kindly allowed us to enjoy their cherries.
Having shared a few jam and chutney recipes with you, I thought I might encourage you to start a rumtopf this year. As this post is a little late, cherries might not feature but you can use any of the seasonal fruit listed below in any combination.
Rumtopf
You need a huge jar with a tightly closing lid so you can add several kilos of fruit and a few litres of rum. I am using a very large kilner jar but have found it is already too small and have just found an even bigger one! You will need to sterilise the jar before using and also wash and pat dry the fruit.
Rum (75cl for every 500g fruit)
Sugar (225g for each 500g fruit)
Seasonal fruit:
Cherries, stemmed and pitted
Strawberries, hulled but whole
Raspberrries, hulled but whole
Apricots, halved and pitted
Gooseberries, stemmed but whole
Peaches/Nectarines, pitted and chopped into quarters or bite sized pieces
Plums, halved and pitted
Apples, peeled, cored and sliced
Pears, peeled, cored and sliced
Seedless grapes, stems removed, whole
Blackberries, hulled, whole
Some recipes add halved walnuts, raisins and 2 cinnamon sticks at the end.
Start with strawberries, raspberries and cherries. Layer them in the jar and sprinkle with the sugar. Add the required amount of rum to cover the fruit by at least 2cm. If the fruit is not fully covered it may ferment, which you don’t want. Leave the jar in a cool dark place for at least a week before adding any more fruit. As the fruit season progresses add layers of apricots and peaches, sugar and rum. Leave again for another week. Continue with plums, sugar and rum. In the autumn add apples, pears and blackberries. Just make sure the fruit is fully covered by the rum each time.
Once you have finished adding fruit, keep in a cool dark place for at least 4 weeks before using.
The fruit is great on ice cream or over Greek yogurt. You can also add it to cakes or pancakes. However please remember that the fruit is soaked in alcohol so is for adults only.
The liqueur is delicious in the winter. The fruit can also be frozen for use later on once the liqueur is decanted.
Let me know how you get on!
