Near our house are three wild cherry trees. EG and I have been enjoying picking and snacking on them. I’m planning on making a Black Cherry Conserve with them. We can’t get enough.
Yet every time someone sees us eating them and asks if they are edible I get quite strong reactions once they try them. The taste is a bit on the bitter side. Someone compared it to a chocolate stout beer, a very robust and unique flavor. Most folks, generally the American born and raised folks, scrunch up their faces and decide to pass on eating anymore. But a fair number of folks on our neighborhood were born and raised internationally and most of them are as enchanted with the cherries as we are. Many of them have fond memories of similar cherry trees in their home countries. I find the contrast in reactions quite striking. Confirms for me that Americans, in general, have far too much of a sweet tooth. I have been working on removing the processed sugar from my family’s diet. We don’t eat a lot of sweets, the only candy is very dark chocolate, and anything I bake I sweeten with honey rather than white sugar. We still enjoy some Ben & Jerry’s now and again. But I am pleased that EG is able to enjoy these less than sweet cherries. Makes me proud that she has not gone the way of the typical american sweet tooth.
