It takes a lot of sour cherries to make one very sweet pie. About 250 sour cherries, give or take a few.
And you have to act fast. This delicate fruit - rarely sold in supermarkets because of its fragility - is available at a few you-pick-'em farms in Maryland during a very brief harvest at the end of June and the beginning of July. Sour-cherry trees love the cooling summer winds of the Great Lakes region and the Pacific Northwest - Michigan is considered the cherry capital of the United States - but Maryland farmers can include the popular Montmorency tree in their orchards as well.
After a period of dormancy lasting perhaps five years, each tree produces enough fruit each year for about 28 pies. However, it is often a race to beat the birds to their favorite fruit.
Sour cherries differ from their cousins, the larger, heart-shaped sweet cherries that are delicious by the handful. They are smaller and rounder and likely to spoil in a day or two.Without the cooking that releases the residual sweetness, they are too tart to eat fresh. But they are perfect in desserts, preserves, juices and sauces, or dried and included in salads.
And sour cherries are good for what ails you, too. Doctors believe that their deepred skin contains elements that reduce tissue inflammation. Gout and arthritis sufferers swear by pain-relieving qualities of a daily glass of the tart juice. Sour cherries are also known to contain antioxidants that help fight cancer and heart disease.
February is National Cherry Month,when we celebrate our first president, his ax, his cherry tree and his truthfulness. But now is the time to harvest sour cherries and freeze them for that midwinter pie.
susan.reimer@baltsun.com
SOME CHERRY THOUGHTS BUYING
Choose shiny specimens that feel somewhat firm. Avoid cherries with brown spots or dry stems. One pound equals about four to five cups - enough to make one pie, according to the Cherry Marketing Institute.
STORING
Refrigerate, unwashed, in plastic bags and use within three days. Sour cherries keep poorly, even with the best care.
FREEZING
Wash, drain and pit as soon as possible. Use a hand-held cherry pitter, or one that clamps to the countertop, to remove the stone and leave the fruit whole. Freezing cherries with the stone in will result in an almondlike taste. Pack in containers with sugar or a sugar syrup, using 3/4 cup sugar for every quart of cherries. Frozen cherries will keep 10 to 12 months.
