Besides choosing firm, fleshy, glossy plump fruit with stalks that are not dried-up, what do you need to know about cherries? There are two types, the sweet, eat-as-is-type that you see in the photo and sour cherries that are used for pies and other delights. For our purposes let’s stick with the eat-now variety.
Cherries do not improve after being harvested, which means that they are ripe at harvest and fragile, an exemplar of the seasonal. If you haven’t eaten your cherries already (they don’t last long in this house), refrigerate them loosely in a bag with holes and away from strong smelling foods. Don’t let them languish there too long.
The cherries in this photo were both labeled as "Bing" at the supermarket. The dark red is the classic Bing. My favorite food geek, Harold McGee, writes that the deep red fruits contain more antioxidants, which means that they are very good for you. The California Cherry site makes all sorts of health claims. Naturally they have a vested interest in extolling the virtues of cherries, but who can resist believing all of it with such a lovely and delicious fruit?
What you don’t need to know, but what is fun and interesting, is that Bing cherries were named after Ah Bing, a Manchurian Chinese foreman who helped the horticulturist Seth Lewelling in the late 1800’s develop this particular variety.
Ahhhh…. Bings!
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