Food Lens · Produce
Cherries
Sweet and juicy in dessert varieties, sharply tart in baking varieties, with a rich, dark fruitiness either way.
Lens analyzedCherries are a small stone fruit that come in sweet varieties, eaten fresh out of hand, and tart varieties, mostly used for baking and preserves. Fresh sweet cherries have a short season, typically in early summer, before frozen and canned versions take over the rest of the year. Recipes call for sweet cherries plain and tart cherries when a pie or sauce needs to be sweetened separately.
Where it comes from
Cherries have grown across temperate regions of Europe, Asia, and North America since long before recorded history, spreading through cultivation and trade routes well before refrigerated shipping made fresh cherries available outside their short season. Sweet varieties like Bing became the standard fresh-eating cherry in North American grocery stores, while sour varieties like Montmorency stayed mostly in the baking aisle as canned or dried fruit.
Buying it
Choose cherries that are firm, glossy, and still have their green stems attached, since a fresh stem is one of the best signs a cherry hasn't been sitting long.
Storing it
Keep cherries refrigerated and unwashed until you're ready to eat them, since moisture speeds up mold. Rinse just before eating and use them within about a week.
Keeps about 7 days in the fridge.
In season
Peak season is June–July.
Fresh North American cherries have a short early-summer peak, with only limited off-season imports.
Recipes that use cherries
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