Good evening,

As our cherry season comes to a close it’s time for the Morello sour cherries to have their special place.  The sweet cherries are now all finished.

We will now open over the next few mornings for Morello sour cherries before the season closes until next summer.

Orchard is open for sour cherries:

Monday 29th 7am – 12pm 

Tuesday 30th 7am – 12pm

Wednesday 31st 7am – 10am

The sour cherries have ripened nicely over the past few days to have the balance of tartness with a bit of sweet and a lot of flavour.  

Pick your own - $6/adult and $12/kg

Picked – 2kg boxes are $40 – please email or call to order so we can pick for you in the morning before you arrive.   Sorry we are not able to do the Sydney deliveries this season.

What are sour cherries?

Sour, or tart cherries (Prunus cerasus) are not simply unripe cherries, they are quite a different fruit to sweet cherries (Prunus avium).  The variety we have is called Morello.

These trees fruit on one year old wood, giving branches with laden with hanging ‘baubles’ of pretty, bright red sour cherries.

Very tart, they are packed full of a fascinating complex of flavour. 

They are reportedly also really good for you - packed with anthocyanins, antioxidants and melatonin.

Sour cherries are not common in shops as they are quite delicate and the shelf life isn’t robust enough to shine in the usual retail supply chain.

The Morellos have become one of my favourite fruits, not least because of the many stories and recipes for this fruit that visitors have shared with us. They hold a special place in the hearts and memories of those who love them. 

I’m so grateful that many visitors over the years had asked for sour cherries and we have planted these morellos. Learning how to use them has been a fascinating, cross-cultural journey.  

It's wonderful to see some Mudgee locals learning to love them too!

How to use them?

Today I was asked to share some recipes and uses for Morellos.  These mostly come from lovely visitors and customers over the past few years.    

Some visitors tell me they will eat most of them fresh whilst others will cook or preserve them.  The tart flavour is a surprise if you are looking for a sweet cherry.  But once you understand this fruit they do become quite addictive.  I really enjoy eating them cold (early this morning they were perfect).  Like all cherries I prefer them cold.  Eating them with salt is popular. 

There are many different uses for sour cherries and it’s a fascinating cultural journey, with Eastern Europeans mainly using them for baking or liqueurs, Persians using them in more savoury dishes and Americans and Canadians for the cherry pie.  We have really enjoyed learning how people use this special fruit. 

Here are a few food and drinks to try – I’m still experimenting to find favourite recipes - an internet search of these ideas will give you many options.  I’m sure there are many more I’ve missed.  Let me know your favourites!

Sweet:

·       Jam – Sour cherries make a great jam as you add the sugar for sweetness and they add have a lot more complexity of flavour and acidity than a sweet cherry.  If you have sweet cherries left they combine well in a jam.

·       Cherry Pie or Strudel, again these can be combined with sweet cherries

·       Black Forest Cake 

·       Pierogi (Vareniki) – a sweet version of these Slavic dumplings  

·       Hungarian Sour Cherry chilled soup – I like to bottle the sour cherry and spice base for this and then we can mix with sour cream for a delicious treat.

·       Greek Sour Cherry Spoon Sweet (Vyssino glyko koutaliou) – sundried with lots of sugar – eaten over ice-cream.  

·       Sorbet.  

Savoury:

·       Persian Sour Cherry Rice with chicken or meatballs – this is a truly delicious dish.  Very much a favourite in our family. 

·       Sauce or side - Last night we simply pitted, added salt and a little sugar and roasted them in the bottom of the oven whilst our potato bake and sausages cooked.  Truyl lifted a simple meal to something special!

·       Tagine with beef or lamb

·       Pit and mix into salads. 

Drinks

·       Juice – it is very good for you.  I use a steam juicer to extract juice but you can also do it by simmering the cherries in water.  I prefer it unsweetened. Mixed with iced tea is a refreshing summer drink. 

·       Infuse in cold water – very refreshing drink. Whole sour cherries (fresh or frozen) look pretty in a jug of water and add a refreshing acidity.  When I have lots of pits from making other things I’ll put water on them to get the last of the juice.   

·       Persian tea – put a few sour cherries in a mug with boiling water and muddle

·       Liqueurs – infuse in vodka, gin or Rakija.  Some will first pack into a jar with sugar, leaving it to macerate and being a ferment before adding spirit.  Simplest is 1kg sour cherries, 1kg sugar, 1 L vodka – leave for a month in a jar. 

·       Cherry bounce – reportedly Geroge Washington’s favourite  - Sour cherries, whiskey and honey.  I don’t drink whiskey but this is good!

·       Sour cherry syrup, maraschino style cherries. 

·      Wine - Cherry wine is made from sour cherries as they have a good balance of acidity and sugars for winemaking.

Snacking

·       Dried in the sun – with some salt, pits can stay in

·       Fruit leather (I use the pulp left after steam juicing)

·       Eat them fresh and enjoy the very short season!

Pitting – it takes time! A perfect job to do sitting in front of the cricket on telly – if the test hadn’t finished so early!  

Sour cherries are softer, exploding with juice and very small.  I find it easier to pit these with my fingers rather than use a pitter. Or you can use a hairpin or paperclip.

I hope you get a chance to try this very special fruit and learn to love them as much as we do.  Be quick as they don't last long!

Cherry cheers

Ingrid