August marks the last month of the Irish cherry season, though imported varieties will still be available in supermarkets in the winter months. Keelings, a family owned Irish fruit company, grow sweet and sour varieties, so try and grab a punnet or two before they’re gone for another year.
Preserving cherries
The easiest way to preserve cherries is to pickle, salt or make jam from them. Pickling is easy, just follow my 3/2/1 method (three parts white wine vinegar, two parts water and one part sugar). Bring the 3/2/1 to the boil, allow to cool slightly and then pour this over whole cherries. This pickle works for both sweet and sour varieties of cherry. And of course, feel free to add any aromatics, from star anise to cumin seeds.
Salting is fun and creates wonderful flavours over time. Place 500g of cherries in a jar and cover with water. Weight the cherries and water and then add 5 per cent sea salt. Close the jar and leave in the fridge for a week. Make sure to burp the jar as the cherries will create air that needs to escape.
Strain the cherries (I like to keep liquid, it’s quite salty but it’s great for seasoning tomato sauce) and chop and deseed them. They can now be used in a salsa (simply combine with a diced red onion and olives), or they can be cooked and then blended. The cooked version pair well with lamb chops and some grated hazelnuts.
Last, cherry jam is a great one to have in your fridge or cupboard, especially if you want to make a cherry bakewell tart. Simply combine 2kg of cherries with 1.5kg of jam sugar. Cook for 25 minutes and then pass through a sieve. Return to the pot, add a splash of gin, and return to the boil. It will keep indefinitely in fridge.
