Postcard: Le Temps des Cerises
The cherries were unexpectedly sweet. One of the neighbors in the village said that the tree produced sour cherries, and there I was plotting out all the great things to do with them. Sour cherries are a treat indeed. I think he was imagining things, raided his neighbor's tree before they were ready, or in the end was just just trying to come across like he knew everything about everyone's gardens. These cherries are juicy and sweet. The skin is red, but inside the fruit pulp is clear, like a plum. I don't know what kind they are. The best way to find out is to take some to the market and ask the cherry vendors. Loic spent some time on a ladder over the weekend and could only pick from the lowest branches, this tree towers up about 50 feet high. It is an old tree and that's probably why it produced so much fruit. No wonder the birds aren't much interested in what I have been putting in the feeder lately! Nothing better to do with these cherries but to eat them straight up. Next year we will be better equipped for the harvest and I will cook and put them up.
by Lucy Vanel | 10:39
14 Comments:
Hi Lucy,
your description sounds as if you've found a variety which is popular in the Mainz (Germany) region. They are not as dark as morello cherries which are popular elsewhere and e.g. used for jam.
Mostly they lighter variety is used for canning. Afterwards they're delicious e.g. tossed with beaten egg whites which have been combined with ground hazelnuts and some sugar, and all together baked in a pie crust. Maybe this would be possible without canning, too, as it's fine with non-precanned red currants. I'd just try :D
That pie sounds intriguing, anon. It would be doubly good since we also have hazelnuts on the property which have just now begun to make the green nuts...
Cherries are the very best fruit of all . A tree full would be heaven !
this is a wonderful blog, i love it!!
Il me semble que ce sont des cerises aigres, essayez de les faire macerer avec de l eau de vie, alcohol .ou d en faire des clafoutis, confitures, etc...En decoration sur les oreilles c est pas mal non plus!
I think life is like a bowl of these!!
Indeed cerisiers are lovely, though we always have to be really on the ball about harvesting the cherries, our competition being all the birds in the area! These days though I can't look at a cherry tree without thinking of the song you quoted "Le temps des cerises". If you don't know the history I would recommend looking it up, it's quite interesting.
Hi Lucy
Isn't it wonderful to have your own fruit to pick. I am waiting patiently for our cherries to ripen. Last year this time we had just moved to our new house and I was thrilled to see a large cherry tree in our little orchard. The cherries wewre ripe one evening when I checked so I decided I would get up first thing in the morning to pick. To my horror, the next morning, the whole tree, all thirty feet of it, was stripped of cherries and I counted about ten left! I was devastated, no cherry pie!!
So this year I will be up the ladder with a flashlight if need be, I will get my pie!
We also had invaders in our plums, pears, and grapes so I will have to be more watchful this year! I don't mind sharing, though!
Happy picking!
Wendy
Ah the karma of cherries, I just this minute got off the phone with my grandson who lives too many miles away. Each Friday he gives me a "garden report" the Nasturtiums we planted in a pocket found in the cherry tree last visit are in full bloom as are the flowers on the cherry tree. "Grammy" he said in five year old language, "Can I eat the cherries will it bother the nastiurms?" "Noah," I replied, You can enjoy them all!" Thank you so much for this glorious post, Lucy!
Cherry season here too but because of all the rain we've had, they aren't as sweet as normal.
How cool such an old tree is producing such sweet fruit. I'm so happy you shared your story. I ate through a bag of cherries just yesterday. It's the perfect time of year to bake a fresh cherry tart.
Oh I love cherries and these look so beautiful. Must be wonderful to just pluck them from your own tree
I just stumbled upon your blog. Love the photos! And all the talk about food!
Our cherry harvest in Central California was very pitiful this year. I got to eat maybe 4-5. Birds got the rest. A few years ago when we had an unusually cold winter, I actually harvested enough to make pastries out of them. They were awesomely good! I envy your big harvest...
Yum! Great blog. We live in the French Alps and have a cherry tree in the backyard and it dropped millions of cherries this year. They were all sweet and beautiful and we even looked on the internet to see how to freeze some since we couldn't eat everything we could pick. We never did get to the top half of the tree. Cynthia in Chambery
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