It's hard to resist a bowl of glossy, deep red cherries sitting on the kitchen table... letting them stain your fingers purple as you eat - unless you're a pit-spitter! And what little girl hasn't prettied herself up with a little cherry-juice lipstain? From British Columbia to Prince Edward Island, cherries grow in orchards, backyards - they even volunteer in the woods. Cherries inspire chefs, delight the birds and bring out the kid in all of us. At their peak—available fresh from June to August—cherries are soft, sweet and perfect for summer snacking. There are two basic types of cherries grown in North America: sweet and sour (or as sour cherries are also known: tart, Early Richmond, Montmorency, Morello, pie cherries, or red cherries).
Sweet versus sour cherries: What's the difference?
Sweets are eating cherries while sour cherries tend to be a bit mouth-puckering, but are perfect for everything else: use them in jams to pies to ice cream, juices, compotes and beyond. A firmer fruit, they hold up when cooked, baked or otherwise processed, and as they cook, their tartness mellows to a mild sweetness. See for yourself with this collection of Canadian Living sour cherry recipes.
Cherry origins
Cherries are not native to North America, in fact both the sweet and sour varieties were brought to Canada and the U.S. in the 1600s by French and English settlers. The plants—especially the sour varieties—adapted well to our climate, particularly around the Great Lakes region and provided the newcomers with a nourishing taste of home. At this point, Michigan is the commercial cherry-growing capital of the world.
Sour cherries are a hardier plant than the sweet variety and are well-suited to growing in slightly cooler climates. Here, commercial production began in the 1800s although Canada still is not a major producer; we still import more sour cherries than we grow.
Cherry lore
But it's not all about pie. Sour cherries have a long, fascinating history rich with mythology and lore. It is said that a cherry tree offered its fruit to Maya, the virgin mother of Buddha, to keep her full and well during pregnancy. In North America, Aboriginal peoples discovered the cherry's medicinal properties—bark, leaves, fruit—all had their own benefits, from soothing tummy aches to sore throats.
Modern research is discovering that sour cherries possess a compound that relives pain, and there is mounting research that sour cherries are one of the most powerful superfoods. They're rich in health-promoting, cancer-fighting, anti-inflammatory antioxidants, as well as high in vitamins, minerals, and phytochemicals. And that's not all! Sour cherries are one of the few known natural food sources to contain the hormone melatonin, a mood enhancer and sleep aid.
Page 1 of 2 -- Sour cherry recipes and other ways to get a sweet dose on page 2.
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