The Juiciest
The Fork's partner brought home a big ol' bag of cherries the other day because The Fork loves cherries and our partner was being nice. But then we plum forgot about those bad boys until just this moment (to be fair, our partner asking us why we hadn't eaten the cherries spurred our memory). "You won't really be able to get them soon," our partner said, referring to the brief cherry window in which we're currently living. Indeed, summer's gentle and temporary kiss wanes as does the stone fruit's May-ish-through-roughly-August season, so consider this your reminder that cherries are out there.
And why is that important? A few reasons, actually.
According to health.com, which is some kind of health dot-com, the benefits of eating cherries are many, from their jam-packed-i-tude-ness of antioxidants to how they protect against diabetes and promote good sleep. We like sleep and we don't like diabetes, so sign us up. Apparently they also lower risk of gout and can help lower cholesterol. Suck on that, Cheerios!
We also hear there are more than 1,000 cherry varieties growing around the US, but roughly 10 are grown and sold commercially. We don't recommend eating cherries you happen to come across because of poison and such, but we do recommend getting them while the getting is good.
While asking ourselves what we know about buying cherries—or any fruit and veg, really, because, like, we thump melons and squeeze avocados, but it's mostly for show—we came across this little ditty from eatlikenoone.com, and we like its style. We feel like kindred spirits with this blog, we do. The takeaway? Try before you buy. But there's more!
You may also be wondering what the actual heck is up with maraschino cherries (unless you already know, in which case, don't @us with snippy little "Actually, Fork, I already knew that!" emails because it just makes us sad and proves what? That you knew cherry stuff? Get real, vitamin breath!), and it's pretty simple—they're cherries preserved in maraschino syrup. What the heck is maraschino syrup? Or maraschino liqueur? Well, it's a syrup—or liqueur—made in part with sour Marasca cherries, which are Croatian in origin. Did the syrup or the cherry come first, you may also be asking? The cherry, obviously.
And finally, George Washington never chopped down a cherry tree. Nor did he battle at the airport.
This has been The Fork—your guide to the world of facts.
Since we're talking Cherries, enjoy this jam.
Also
-Remember how beloved Indian food eatery Raaga closed some time back, but then it came back in to-go only form as Raaga-Go? Well, in kinda weird but you should be pumped news, the restaurant announced earlier this week that a new sit-down dining room is in the works. To put that another way, Raaga moved, it just took its sweet-ass time doing so.
–Jambo Café turns 10 this year (and nary a soul around can imagine life without it), and they're gonna hit the Railyard on July 20 to celebrate with food, a drum circle and a performance from African musician Natu Camara. Happy B-Day to chef Ahmed Obo and the entire Jambo staff!
–Santa Fe Art Week kicks off tomorrow, and there's, like, a full week of art and food and wine and Canyon Road-ing and such. Get down with it, nerds.
-Speaking of series of things, the Santa Fe Botanical Garden kicks off their Summer Garden Dinners series one week from today. It's pretty much what it sounds like—dinners in the garden(s)—and proceeds go toward the SFBG's educational programs.
-If you're in search of some of the best peaches you've ever had in your dang life (according to people we work with who aren't allergic), check out this piece for SFR's new-ish reporter Katherine Lewin (don't call her Kathy, and don't say "Ack!" or "Chocolate, chocolate, chocolate!" at her). Anyway, Lewin hit the Southside in search of peaches, and you bet you your nectarines she found 'em. Read it. Be glad you did.
More Tidbits
-In "why is this a thing?" news, we received an email from a company called Wild Earth asking us if their product—meat-free pet food—is the Beyond Meat of the pet food world. Now, we don't eat meat (which we talk about too much, right?), but we do know that most pets need that stuff. We're down with Beyond Meat, we eat it allll theeeee tiiiiiime-uh, and part of it is that we understand the dire toll factory farming takes on the planet; but please don't feed your dog weird stuff. Or your cat.
-In other meatless meat news, vegan tuna-free tuna is apparently a thing (we're wary, but will try it if it crosses our path) and is reportedly not as bad as you think. We miss fish.
-If you have to kill three minutes and are sick of looking at Facebook, USA Today has a kind of fun one about foods that are named weird. Example: French fries are not French.
-Meanwhile, in Los Angeles, Jaden Smith (son of Will "welcome to erf" Smith) has opened a pop-up vegan food truck in Los Angeles called I Love You, and both he and the truck spent the day feeding the homeless for free. We love this idea, Jaden, and salute you using your existence for good. Did you also know that young Jaden is actively working to help with the Flint, Michigan, water crisis? Well, he is.
-Tim Forster at eater.com is now lobbying for Guy Fieri to play Ursula in Disney's upcoming "live action" remake of The Little Mermaid. No thanks, Tim—the role belongs to Lizzo. Y'know, if she wants it, which we hear she does. How is this food-related? Well, Guy Fieri looks like an old potato. And now you know.
-They're no cherries, but buds have told us that cotton candy grapes, while expensive, are one of the best things we do on as a people. Food & Wine has your back in that regard and wants to help you find them.
-And lastly, to pull it full-circle, we found this-here rundown of more than 30 cherry desserts from delish.com. We'll probably just cram fistfuls of cherries into our mouth with no regard for the pits, but if you're organized and like baking, you can do it!
Y'know, we couldn't get George Washington out of our heads, so we found an educational film about him.
Finally
In the print edition of SFR, woman of the people Zibby Wilder invited an SFR reader to lunch at one of his favorite restaurants of all time, El Paragua.
____________________________________________________________
A Totally Scientific Breakdown of The Fork’s Correspondence
Number of Letters Received
59
*The number of times The Fork’s dad said we’d go camping but then we didn’t.
Most Helpful Tip of the Week (not edited for content)
“Ugh.”
*Cool?
Actually Helpful Tip
“I hate you.”
*Ohhhh, is that why nobody will sit near us at lunch?
____________________________________________________________
Cherry On,
The Fork
