If you have a freezer full of summer's best fruit, aka cherries, why not try your hand at these sweet, sour and savory interpretations and appreciate the diversity of these international twists?
When looking through my culinary calendar it took me by surprise: There’s a whole month dedicated to cherries in the United States. An odd choice considering it is February and in the dead of winter but the most plausible theory for it being that in 1912 Japan gifted the U.S. 3,000 cherry trees as a sign of friendship between the countries. These were planted in a park that can be visited even today in Washington, D.C.
Putting the history trivia aside, cherries are a particularly nutritious member of the fruit family and have some surprising health benefits. While not quite in season at the moment, Turkish cherries are quite tasty on their own and have even gained international certification!
So to celebrate this amazing fruit, here are four delicious ways to prepare them, including a centuries-old vintage take, true classics and a rather distinctive one.
The first one is an oldie but a goodie, meaning that this recipe comes from the Ottoman Empire. While Turkish cuisine has kept or adapted many recipes from the era, especially sweet and sour creations, many have been lost over time or simply lost their appeal through the ages. But the sour cherry sarma, or stuffed vine leaves, sometimes called dolma has had a resurgence in recent years. The vine leaves work beautifully with the sweet and sour taste of the cherries and actually make for a perfect vegan treat to wow anyone.
Vişneli Yaprak Sarma
Ingredients