Watch How to Cook Well with Rory O'Connell at 8:30pm on Tuesday evenings on RTÉ One.
Ingredients
Is there a prettier sight than a cherry tree in full blossom or indeed later in the year laden down with glossy fruit? Is there a more delicious moment than when you bite the first shiny cherry off the stalk when the new season fruit arrives? As far as I am concerned that first taste is one of the years's highlights and reminds me to be thankful for nature’s extraordinary bounty.
Wild cherry trees flourish all over Ireland but it is usually the birds that get to eat these generally out of reach, slightly tart and wildly flavoured fruits. It is only in the recent past that cherries are being grown commercially here and what a joy to be able to get baskets of the now locally grown fruit.
Many years ago when I was cooking in Paris, a bag of cherries nearly landed me in hot water. A friend and I decided it was great fun to spit the cherry stones at each other as we walked down the rather grand Rue St Honore. Well, a haughty gendarme thought that this was not in the slightest bit amusing at all and even with my slim grasp of the language, I was able to discern that he was calling both of us savages and that we should take more care to be respectful to the streets of his beloved city.
Deeply embarrassed at our youthful tomfoolery and as red faced as the cherries themselves, we scuffled around on the ground to retrieve the ejected cherry stones and scuttled off to eat the rest in subdued silence. That rather took the shine off that particular bag of cherries.
This recipe is a master class in simplicity. Four ingredients all cooked together at a very gentle heat produce a very pure and delicious flavour. I like to serve them in several different ways. When served warm with icy cold pouring cream they are something of a revelation. You can also imagine how good the hot fruit would pair with a chocolate ice cream or sorbet. They are also delicious with an almond praline ice cream. The almond pairs well with almost any stone fruit. When chilled, they will usually be an accompaniment to a rich confection such as crème brulee or pannacotta.
Serves 4
- 450g cherries
- 110g caster sugar
- 2 tablespoons kirsch
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
Method
- Place the cherries, sugar, kirsch and lemon juice in a small low-sided saucepan.
- Cover and place on a very gentle heat. The sugar needs to melt and the cherries need to soften slightly. If the heat is too high, the lovely juice the leaks from the cherries will be cooked off and you will not end up with lovely ruby coloured syrup.
- They take about 20 minutes to cook until just tender but still holding their shape. The cherries can be served warm or chilled.
