Richer, fuller flavoured and with a surprising intensity of sweetness, the so-called sour cherry is a more complex, grown-up treat than its sweet supermarket cousin. Yet it’s at risk of being lost forever from the British culinary imagination.
Before the Second World War there were more than 50 sour cherry cultivars (Prunus cerasus) grown commercially in the UK. Now there is barely one: a shocking 98% loss. Even the last cultivar, ‘Morello’, bypasses the fruit and veg aisle completely and goes straight to canning and preserving factories. Unless you grow your own you will probably never have the chance to eat one fresh.
Many homegrowers are put off growing sour cherries by their name alone. If you have never tasted one, it is easy to assume they will be mouth- puckeringly acidic, necessitating an avalanche of sugar and hours of boiling to be rendered edible. But in reality, harvested when fully ripe, many sour cherries, such as ‘Morello’, contain the same, if not slightly higher, levels of sugars as the sweet varieties, simply offset with a bright spritz of refreshing acidity.
To me it is a simple equation: more sugar plus more acid equals more flavour. Also, the trees are hardier and the fruit more versatile (they can be used raw and cooked) and even less prone to attacks of marauding birds.
The tastiest of all is a little-known cultivar that crosses both the sweet and sour species to create a flavour-packed fusion that’s the best of both worlds. ‘May Duke’ is a blood red, intensely sweet cherry whose high sugar content is balanced by bracing acidity, like those sour childhood sweets. It is a heavy cropper, too, kicking out generous harvests each June. As with all sour cherries, it is packed with polyphenols, which studies suggest have great health benefits. Plant a cherry this autumn; reap the benefits for years.
Grow your own sour cherries
To get the sweetest, most aromatic fruit possible, don’t plant your tree near a shady north-facing wall as the books often advise, but in a sunny and sheltered place. Now is a perfect time. If space is limited, pick one grown on a dwarfing rootstock, such as ‘Gisela 5’, which restricts the size to just 3m. Sprinkling a cup of sugar over the roots and around the base of the tree when planting before watering in well could dramatically improve the establishment of your sapling. Thin out the clusters of fruit to one cherry per bunch when they have just set as this significantly improves size and flavour.
Email James at james.wong@observer.co.uk or follow him on Twitter: @Botanygeek
