As I entered supermarket last Saturday, I was greeted by a stack of dark red cherries just begging to come home with me. I had just seen pickled cherries (something I’ve never tried before) used on the five and spice blog (which rocks), and was really intrigued by the idea. Growing up, we sometimes had cherries preserved in brandy or jam – something I was never tempted to make myself (we don’t eat a lot of sweets) – but cherries in vinegar, with maybe a little bit of hot spice? That sounded like the perfect way to enjoy the fruit throughout the year, perhaps with some cheeses or curry.

Bonnie Lee (she’s the brains of the operation) suggested that we add a little Thai twist to the pickle. Brilliant. So, that’s the way we decided to go. The results are in the picture below.

We ended up with about ½ cup of extra cherry vinegar, which is bright red, has a nice cherry finish, is slightly sweet, and will be great in dressings and marinades. We haven’t tasted the pickles yet, as we’re waiting for all those great flavours to blend. I’m traveling for work again – but they should be ready to crack open when I get back to the US in mid-August. I’ll let you know how they came out then.

Cherry vinegar & Thai pickled cherries

Ingredients

• 2 quarts fresh cherries
• 1 lime
• 2 sticks dried lemon grass
• 4 pieces dried Thai ginger (galangal)
• 10 dried bird’s eye chilis
• 2 cups distilled vinegar
• ½ cup sugar
• ¼ cup rice vinegar

You will also need a mason jar that holds 4 cups.

Directions

• Wash and pit the cherries, discarding any that are not firm.
• Demonstrate that you’re smarter than me by not wiping your cherry-juice-covered hands on your shirt.
• Sterilize the mason jar.
• Zest the lime, and place the zest in the mason jar.
• Toss the lemon grass, ginger, and bird’s eye chilis in the mason jar.
• Pour the distilled and rice vinegars in a deep skillet, and squeeze in the juice of your lime. Add in the sugar, and stir over medium heat until the sugar dissolves.
• When the vinegar solution is warm, add in the cherries and poach them in vinegar for about 3 or 4 minutes.
• Remove the cherries from the vinegar with a slotted spoon, and put them in the mason jar.
• Strain the bright red vinegar through a wire mesh.
• Pour enough strained vinegar into the mason jar to cover the cherries.
• Put the remaining vinegar in a clean bottle.