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Cheers for cherry
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Try this delicious smoothie with cherries
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Photo: Sushil Kumar Verma
SWEET SOUR Cherries are used in desserts and jams
The word cherry refers to both the tree and the fleshy fruit (drupe) that contains a single stony seed. Cherry belongs to the family Rosaceae, genus Prunus, along with almonds, peaches, plums, apricots and bird c
herries. The cherry is generally understood to have been brought to Rome from Persia.
The cherries selected for eating are derived primarily from two species — the Wild Cherry, which has given rise to the Sweet Cherry to which most cherry cultivars belong, and the Sour Cherry, used mainly for cooking. Besides fruit, cherries have attractive flowers, and are commonly planted for their flower display in spring.
Several Asian cherries are particularly noted for their attractive flowers.
The Japanese sakura, in particular, is a national symbol and is celebrated in the yearly Hanami festival.
Cherries contain anthocyanins, the red pigment in berries, which help reduce pain and inflammation. Anthocyanins are also potent antioxidants.
Cherries contain high levels of melatonin. Research has shown that people who have heart attacks have low melatonin levels.
Besides being an anti-oxidant, melatonin has also been shown to be important for the function of the immune system.
There is considerable interest, at present, in the use of fresh cherries or cherry juice to treat gout, a painful, inflammatory condition affecting the joints.
Culinary uses
Cherry tastes sweet and sour. It is used in many desserts, drinks, cookies, cakes, pastry, shakes, ice creams, pies, jams and jellies as flavouring. It can be used for gelatine desserts, punch or sherbet, and has been added as an ascorbic acid supplement to other fruit juices.
The fruits may be made into syrup or, with added pectin made into jelly, jam, and other preserves.
Now, for a recipe.
Chocolate Cherry Smoothie
Ingredients
Unsweetened, frozen pitted cherries: One to one-and-a-half cups
Low-fat vanilla soy milk: 1 cup
Cranberry-raspberry juice: quarter cup
Chocolate hazelnut spread: one tbsp
Non-fat vanilla yoghurt: half cup
Method: Combine all the ingredients in a blender or food processor and puree them until smooth.
RISHI MANUCHA
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