NEWS for North Dakotans
Agriculture Communication, North Dakota State University
7 Morrill Hall, Fargo, ND 58105-5665

February 11, 1999

Prairie Fare: George's Whack Missed the Mark

Does anyone know whether George Washington liked cherries? If he did, then I'd say he paid dearly for his youthful actions. Imagine all those right-off-the-tree cherries. Any plains dweller who's had the opportunity to drive through the Northwest during cherry season probably knows of the loss to which I refer.

It's been years, but I still can recall those roadside stands that dotted the winding highways of Idaho. Bags full of cherries so fresh that the leaves attached to many of the stems were as supple as those still on the trees. At least, I imagined so. Cherries so perfectly ripe that eating so many produced no guilt, only slight concern about a stomach ache.

Alas, store-bought fresh cherries are facsimiles, mostly. And of course, canned cherries compare even less favorably to those precious gems of the Northwest. But in the dead of winter on the Northern Great Plains, canned cherries certainly beat a mouthful of nothing. Cherry pie filling even satisfies my cravings on occasionespecially on the occasions when the pie cherries are adorning a piece of chocolate cheese cake or an extra-thick wedge of angel food cake, topped off with fresh whipped cream and toasted almond slivers.

True, there's nothing better than the real thing, whether it be something as simple as a bag of fresh cherries or as complex as love. But instead of trying to go home again, maybe we cherry lovers can strike a compromise: Accept what's available during the winter and dream about a leisurely driving vacation to the Northwest during cherry season.

The recipe that follows comes from the National Cherry Growers and Industries Foundation. It may help you forget that summer remains several months away.

Cherry Wild Rice Salad
Yield: 6 servings

Ingredients:
1 can (about 16 ounces) canned dark sweet cherries, pitted
3 tablespoons eachlemon juice and cider vinegar
2 tablespoons eachreserved cherry juice and olive oil
1 teaspoon grated lemon peel
½ teaspoon eachsalt, sugar and ground ginger
1/8 teaspoon bottled hot pepper sauce
1 package (4 ounces) brown and wild rice mix
½ cup eachcucumber (peeled, seeded, diced), diced red pepper and chopped water chestnuts
¼ cupeach chopped celery, chopped parsley and slivered almonds, toasted
1 tablespoon minced green onion

Procedure:
Drain cherries, reserving liquid for dressing. Place on paper towels to remove excess liquid and refrigerate until serving time. To make cherry-lemon dressing, combine lemon juice, cider vinegar, cherry juice, olive oil, lemon peel, salt, sugar, ginger and hot pepper sauce. Prepare rice mix according to package directions in a 1½-quart saucepan. Add ¼ cup cherry-lemon dressing to cooked rice, mix and cool. Toss cooled rice mixture with remaining ingredients, including cherries. Adjust seasoning and consistency with remaining dressing and allow to stand at room temperature for 15 to 20 minutes before serving. Makes a nice accompaniment to roast pork, ham or poultry.

What's Your Take on This, Julie?

George may have left the poor tree alone if it meant a second serving of this unique dish. Each serving contains about 220 calories, 8 grams of fat, and 0 cholesterol. It also provides about 25 percent of the daily recommended vitamin A and 60 percent of the daily recommended vitamin C primarily from the red peppers.

Cherries, like other fruit, will vary in their nutritive value depending on how they are canned or prepared. For example, ½ cup of canned sweet cherries in heavy syrup contains about 110 calories while ½ cup of canned sweet cherries packed in juice contains about 70 calories. Canned pie filling usually contains close to 700 calories per can, but there are some lower-calorie products available.

Cherries have been cultivated since 1629 thanks to Massachusetts settlers. On the West Coast, the sweet cherry industry began in 1847. Since then numerous varieties of cherries have been introduced. The two main types of cherries are sweet and sour. In this region most people are familiar with sour cherries such as chokecherries.

Cherries get their red color from natural plant pigments called anthocyanins, which also are responsible for the fiery red of fall forests, the pink of roses and other flowers, and even the blue tones of violets. The perfectly red maraschino cherries that top sundaes and other desserts probably don't start out so unblemished. Maraschino cherries are sweet cherries that are bleached, pitted, and steeped in a syrup of sugar, water, almond flavoring and food coloring.

If you buy fresh cherries, remember that cherries with stems will keep better. Look for plump, ripe cherries with appropriate color for their variety. Sour cherries should be of medium firmness while sweet cherries should be firm. Immature cherries usually are smaller, with a hard texture and poor color.

Ask any child or adult what their favorite flavor is, and chances are that "cherry" will appear near the top of the list. George Washington should have known better.

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Sources: Dean Hulse (701) 231-6136 and Julie Garden-Robinson (701) 231-7187

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