The prettiest cherries I’ve ever seen were on a drizzly day at a market in Trier, Germany. Coincidentally, the white asparagus was at its peak as well! This is a photo from 2006, while walking through a square on our way to lunch, where I failed miserably attempting to speak German!
Later on this trip, we visited the Schwarzwald, or the Black Forest region of Germany, known for Schwarzwald Torte, or Black Forest cake. At the Black Forest open-air museum we ran in to these ladies wearing their bollenhut.
The tradition is that the hats/bonnets with the giant cherry-red woolen bobbles must be worn while ladies are single. After the point they are married, they get to switch to a black version. I think I would have just moved to a different part of Germany.
Recently I was lucky enough to pick beautiful, ripe cherries from a friend’s trees. I wanted to create a recipe for cherry salsa.
Now I know that I’m the first to gripe when terms are loosely used in the culinary world – words like confit, coulis, pesto, and yes, salsa. But it’s the only word I could think of to describe this seasonal condiment.
It’s not cooked like a chutney, and it’s not a sauce. It is somewhere inbetween fresh tomato salsa and raw cranberry salsa.
For my cherry salsa I used fresh cherries, orange, cilantro, shallots and ginger. It has zing, a freshness, some tartness and sweetness. Serve it with any kind of meat and poultry, just like you would a chutney or cranberry sauce.
Fresh Cherry Salsa
1 cup loosely packed cilantro leaves
1 shallot, minced
1 slice of ginger, approximately 1″ in diameter x 1/4″ thick, minced
Zest of 1 small orange
Juice of 1/2 orange
1 teaspoon roasted sesame oil
1 teaspoon agave, if cherries are tart
1/4 teaspoon salt
Pinch of ground cayenne
2 cups cherries, halved if they’re large
Combine the cilantro, shallot, ginger, and zest in a bowl. Add the liquids, the salt and cayenne.
Then add the cherries and stir gently to combine. Let sit for at least 30 minutes.
I love using sesame seed oil, and I thought it would enhance the shallot, ginger, orange and cayenne.
Serve at room temperature.
I served the cherry salsa with a simple roast chicken and butternut squash.
The flavors are spectacular.
