moving on 2008 Lewes district primary schools annual ... - Viva Lewes

Photograph by Katie Moorman
SWEET AS CHERRY PIE
Cherries are in season, and you need to eat as many as you can while you can, says
Bill Collison. And not only because they’re delicious – British cherry growers are
doing their best to revive the market and they need our support.
“Peachy peachy, Tanner eachy, Cherries ripe at tuppence
a pound.” I used to shout that when I was
selling cherries on the beach in Brighton and I expect,
back in the day, cherries were just tuppence
a pound when they were grown in abundance. But
ever since I can remember they’ve been a treat – a
handful for everyone and enough for jam and pies
in a good year.
The British cherry is in crisis and, according to
FoodloversBritain.com, 85% of our cherry orchards
have been lost in the past 50 years and we now import
95% of the cherries we eat. The situation is
so dire that the organisation has launched CherryAid,
a campaign to save the British cherry. “We
need people to be aware of the situation and to go
out and buy British cherries during the season, not
only because they are delicious but to support the
growers,” says Chris Young from FoodLoversBritain.com.
And there is hope. Fruit farmer Graham Love is optimistic
that the British cherry is on the up. Many
of our cherry orchards were planted in the 1920s
and thirties with enormous trees that could take up
to 15 years to start cropping. To add to that, many
would succumb to bacterial canker in their sixth or
seventh year. And when they did crop, the farmers
had to be out from 4am every day, using every ingenious
means possible to scare the birds away…all
in all it was a labour of love that often didn’t pay
off.
But during the last ten to fifteen years growing
cherries has become more viable as dwarf root systems
have been developed, meaning smaller and
more manageable trees. Graham planted two acres
of cherries in 2002 and last summer was his first
crop, protected from the birds by canopies of netting.
“This summer’s crop isn’t going to be as plen-
tiful as last year,” he says. “A warm winter, followed
by a cold and hard Spring aren’t good conditions
for cherries or plums. They’re not easy to grow
– too much rain at the wrong time and they can
split as they ripen – but there are definitely more
farmers planting cherry trees again.”
One of the best ways to eat cherries is straight out
of the bag, spitting stones as you go or you can wait
till you can get home and do the same but without
anyone watching. You can also warm them through
to spoon over ice cream, add them to any summer
fruit dessert such as summer puddings and pavlovas,
make a cherry pie or jam. The main thing is to
get some in while they’re around. V
Andy Pellegrino’s Cherry Custard Tart
Line a 10/25cm flan tin with pastry - bought or home
made, any type is fine.
Blind bake the pastry case and leave to cool.
1lb stoned cherries*
To make the custard:
4 egg yolks
1 pint whipping cream (UHT is best)
Zest of 2 oranges
Zest of 1 lemon
Sugar, to taste
Finely shredded geranium leaves, if you have them
Mix all the ingredients together thoroughly.
Put about 1lb stoned cherries into the cooled pastry
case. Pour over the custard and put into the oven heated
to 180° C. Cook for about 35-40 minutes, but turn
the oven down to 150° C after about 10 minutes. You
can brush a little apricot jam glaze over the top when
you take the tart out of the oven if you like.
Serve with crème fraîche.
You can make this tart with just about any fruit. Rhubarb
is good (slightly grilled first), so are bananas.
*Bunces’s on Cliffe High Street sell cherry pitters for
£1.79
Bill’s Fruit and Veg boxes delivered to your door.
Order in store or call us on 01273 476918
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