Cherries

Cherries are a delightful ingredient in the world of cooking, shining both in desserts and savory dishes. While they are usually eaten fresh or baked into pies or tarts, cherries are also great for making jams, sauces or used in salad dressing due to their sweet-tart flavor. However, cooking with cherries can bring forth many questions, typically revolving around pitting, sweet versus sour cherries, and how to balance their flavor. Many run into trouble while trying to pit cherries without a pitter, often resulting in squashy cherries. The trick here is to use a straw or chopstick to push out the pit through the cherry, making sure to do it over a bowl to catch the juice. Another common issue is understanding whether to use sweet or sour cherries for a recipe. It largely depends on the recipe and your palate. Sweet cherries are best eaten fresh or used for desserts, while sour cherries are generally preferred for cooking savory dishes and pie fillings. Knowing how to balance cherry's flavor can be tricky too. For very sweet or ripe cherries, adding a bit of lemon juice can balance out the sweetness. Here are some lesser-known tips: When buying fresh cherries, look for ones with their stems still attached, as they will last longer. For a quick way to stem and pit cherries for cooking, place them on top of an empty beer bottle, then use a chopstick to push the stem and pit into the bottle.