White cherries

I picked these shiny, blushing white cherries, a couple of weekends back just after Christmas. White cherries are one of those things you may see very occasionally at markets, yet would not buy as the perception is that the other, black or dark purple ones are better, sweeter, intenser. As I discovered, that perception is wrong.
At the Ellisfield Farm in Red Hill, I picked these cherries for $7 a kilo, it was a tougher process than I thought, as it had rained a few days prior and there was a lot of split and rotting fruit on the trees, such a shame.
I also purchased some black cherries from the farm and 'tasted' some of the morello cherries straight off the trees. The black cherries were reduced in price from $15 a kilo (that's picked and ready to go, not pick your own), to $10, because of a few marks made again by the rain, what a frustrating life of a farmer, one minute drought and then next minute reduced price, rain damaged fruit.
Back at home, tasting the black and white cherries one after another, it was very clear that the white was my pick. A slightly softer texture and not as meaty at the stone, the white cherries also a little lower in acid and therefore perhaps a bit more scoffable.

So with a few kilos of cherries in the fridge, what to do with them?
~Bring to room temperature and snack on a highly antioxidant fruit
~Poach a kilo of washed fruit with a splash of water and a couple of tablespoons of sugar, slowly until they are soft and eat for breakfast with muesli or dessert with ice cream or left over 'eggnog crush'
~Slightly pickle in equal quantities of vinegar and sugar ( add a few flavours if you like such as bay leaves, cloves, orange peel) and serve after a few weeks with pate or terrines.~
~Preserve some in your favourite spirit, perhaps some vodka or brandy
~I have been known to also take the left over poached cherries once we get sick of them and don't finish the pot and reduce it even further to make a thick sticky reduction to serve with white mould cheese

Jack