The Bottom Line: Sweet facts about cherries!
The Full Story:
- The cherry fruit is part of the rose 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. They then introduced these cherries to Britain in the first century AD.
- The word ‘cherry’ comes from the Turkish town of Cerasus.
- 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. USA Today has ranked this as one of the top ten festivals.
- To really bring out the flavor of cherry, use ¼ teaspoon of pure almond extract. In other cooking applications, cherries are best paired with herbs like sage, chives, and verbena; dairy products like sweet cream and ricotta cheese; and with meats like pork and beef especially when black pepper is added.
- Depending on the conditions of the growth, about 7,000 cherries grow on an average tart cherry tree. A cherry pie is made out of about 250 cherries. Thus, 28 pies can be made with the cherries from one tree.