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Preparing
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Cherry
Prunus avium · Stone fruit
10 varieties40 pairings
The sweet cherry (Prunus avium) is a small, glossy stone fruit borne on long slender stems, ranging from pale yellow-blush to deep mahogany-black. Sweet, faintly almond-scented and only lightly tart, it is prized eaten fresh by the handful, while its sour cousin (Prunus cerasus) is the one bound for pies, preserves and liqueurs.
Picking a good onedrag
Picked palePast it
Full colourEven full colour for the variety on a green stem: the buying window. Firm enough to keep a week in the fridge, sweet enough to eat by the handful.Buy it
ColourFull red, bright and glossy
StemGreen, pliable, firmly attached
FleshFirm and springy, heavy for size
SmellClean, faintly sweet up close
What to look for, from picked pale to past it.
What one gives you
92%
Usable yield
8.2 g · pit and stem out
9 g
Typical weight
one specimen
Keeping ittap a band
A domestic fridge holds it about 5× longer than the counter.
Humidity
95%+
Keep them lidded or bagged at 90-95%: loose in a bowl, the stems brown first.
Airflow
Still air, keep it bagged
Pack them dry and don't wash until you eat — condensation cracks skin and rots it.
Makes none, but the stem answers
Keep the bag clear of apples, pears and bananas: their ethylene browns the stems. Sugar is fixed at picking, so nothing ripens it — and it ripens nothing.