Just driving through Kent this afternoon and I always love to support the local cherry sellers… (remember to make sure they are selling LOCAL though, some do not sell British cherries let alone local!) I stopped to buy a basket to enjoy over the weekend, and really just love all the summer berries – strawberries, raspberries, cherries, blueberries, gooseberries and currants. Now summer is here it is officially berry and currant season, its a short time, Eating seasonal is what we should all try to do – cheaper too!
Of course we are well and truly in to Wimbledon so strawberries are on the menu at all times of the day. So easy for a healthy snack, a few on top of your cereal for breakfast, even in salads, so versatile.
Nothing beats a fresh cherry, especially in the sunshine, room temperature. Eat them as they are, or with cheese and biscuits or so many sweet and savoury recipes for example duck. We dipped cherries in chocolate last weekend and another impressive recipe is to dip them in Grappa first, dry them on kitchen paper and then dip in melted dark chocolate to make boozy after-dinner petits fours. Cherries partner really well with pecans, vanilla, cinnamon, ginger, woody herbs, maple syrup and honeys. I was getting very hungry reading a recipe for baked camembert with cherries and herbs.
The majority of British cherries are grown in Kent, still on my list later this month to visit a few cherry farms… but could you actually choose your favourite berry from the bunch? I think I would struggle… I love them all, and afraid I missed out on the couple of cherries on our tree in the garden, saw them yesterday and gone today… Those birds!!
Enjoy those summer berries whichever way you like them!