Cherries - Get 'em while you can...
- May 26
- 4 min read
Updated: May 27
Aren't cherries just a wonderfully optimistic fruit? They arrive quite suddenly, unlike the well guarded blackberries of Autumn, which just take forever to ripen and seem to do so one at a time. Cherries just appear. Reckless and post-box red, they are a bounty of equal opportunity, for birds and beings alike.
In France, cherries are not simply fruit. They are a seasonal event. A brief national orthodoxy that, for approximately three glorious weeks, has everyone smiling.
Here in Brittany, when June finally settles properly into the countryside, the cherries that quietly steal the show are generally a variety called "Burlats". The French adore Burlats in the same way they adore aged linen napkins, and crumbly stone walls. Not despite their fragility, but because of it. Burlats are actually pretty inconvenient for Big Grocery. They bruise easily, soften quickly and have an intense dislike for the back of a lorry. Supermarkets try and avoid them altogether, preferring breeds like Van, Summit and Regina - all sturdy species that have long shelf lives, love being transported and handle well. Which makes Burlats even more attractive.. they are more fruity poetry than logistically convenient. And they taste magnificent.
