The Bottom Line: Sweet facts about cherries!
The Full Story:
- The cherry fruit is part of the Rosaceae family, which also includes almonds, peaches, apricots and plums. They are small and fleshy, red or reddish black fruits that contain a hard seed on the inside. It is believed the Romans discovered this fruit in Asia Minor around 70 BC.
- Canada holds the record for baking the biggest cherry pie in the world. A pie weighing 39,683 pounds was baked in Oliver, British Columbia, which broke the record that was earlier held by Traverse City.
- The German word Kirsch - the cherry liqueur comes from the word karshu. This is the name given to the cherries that were first cultivated in Mesopotamia in 8 BC.
- Once upon a time, serving ice cream on cherry pie in Kansas was prohibited.
- Traverse City, Michigan celebrates the annual National Cherry Festival since 1925. Called the National Cherry Festival since 1931, the event is now held for two days to celebrate cherries. Fun activities like pie eating contests, cherry pit spitting, and the Grand Royale Parade with the Cherry Queen are the major attractions of the festival.
- Michigan has around 35,000 acres of tart cherry trees. This place grows almost 75% of the tart cherries, which are produced in the United States. The Traverse City is therefore called the Cherry Capital of the World.
- Considered an exalted plant, Japan gave the United States 3,020 cherry blossom trees, in 1912, as a gift of their growing friendship. These trees were planted in Manhattan’s Sakura Park.