There is nothing like a warm weather sagra, and the annual cherry
festival in the town of Lari (Sagra delle ciliegie a Lari) is a great
excuse to get out and celebrate the season’s sweetest bounty: cherries.
Located about 30 kilometres from Pisa, the hilltop
town of Lari resonates strongly its medieval past and narrow winding streets
that lead up to the Castello dei Vicari in the town centre. The castle will be
open to visitors for the duration of the festival, so take advantage of a visit
for the extraordinary views that stretch as far as the Livorno coast and the
hills of Volterra.
The major
attraction of the cherry festival in Lari, however, is the cherry market, which
is set up both during the day and (after a short siesta) late into the night.
Stalls line the base of the 700-year-old castle, showcasing fresh local
cherries and other traditional culinary specialties.
Lari has
cultivated cherries for centuries, but the fruit has only ever been grown in
enough amounts for local consumption. This means that the only time you are
likely to find and taste Lari’s cherries are at this festival-one of Tuscany’s
oldest sagre. While the nineteen varieties of Lari’s native cherries are
rare these days, the market is abundant with the more popular varieties such as
duroni neri (black cherries) and amarene or ciliegie visciole (sour cherries).
The local growers
of the Pisan countryside and other stall holders also offer a dizzying array of
produce, from honey to olive oil, and cherry delicacies such as cherry-studded
pies, cakes, scarlet jams and cherry liqueurs. You can even find cherry-scented
beer and a stunning fuchsia-coloured cherry vinegar.
But what makes
the whole visit worthwhile is queuing up for a paper cone of piping hot frittelle
di ciliegie. These little doughnut-hole fritters dotted with fresh cherries
and covered in sugar are diligently handmade on the spot by a group of nonne who drop spoonfuls of dough into a giant pot of bubbling oil while the punters
wait as patiently as they can for each fresh batch. Don’t be afraid to grab a
number and join the crowd.
While the sweet duroni
neri are best eaten fresh, amarene, which live up to their name and
are as sour as lemons, are best used in cooking or for conserving. Smaller than
the plump dark cherries and with a very delicate, light vermilion-coloured
skin, amarene are just as
wonderful for making desserts, like crostate
and sorbetto, as they are
in savoury dishes, such as with duck.
If you get
carried away and end up with too many cherries, follow the recipe I offer,
which is a slight adaption of Pellegrino Artusi’s easy preserving method for
cherries in syrup from his 1891 cookbook, Science
in the Kitchen and the Art of Eating Well. You can then keep the
cherries for months to use throughout the year in other dessert recipes or
spooned over gelato. The cinnamon is a wonderful optional addition, adding a
hint of warm spice to the cherries.
RECIPE
Ciliegie
Visciole In Guazzo (Preserved sour cherries in syrup)
Ingredients
1
kg of fresh sour cherries
300
grams of sugar
1
stick of cinnamon
Preparation
Pick
through the cherries, removing any that are bruised or split; rinse and pat
dry.
De-stem
the cherries and place 800 grams of them in sterilised glass jars.
Extract
the juice of the remaining cherries by passing them through a food mill,
deseeding and crushing through a strainer, or blending. Combine this juice with
the sugar and add to the glass jars.
Add
the cinnamon and seal the jars (depending on the type of jar and lid, you will
usually have to boil the closed jars in a pot of water until they seal). Leave
in a cool, dark place (the fridge is perfect) for at least 2 months or until
the cherries have sunk to the bottom of the jars before using.
PLAN
AHEAD!
The
55th Cherry Festival in Lari runs for the weekend of May 28 to May 29, the
holiday of June 2, and June 4 to 5 in the historic centre of Lari (Pisa). For
more information, download the flyer (in Italian) at http://bit.ly/JNCsVc.
Hours: Saturday from 4pm to 11pm (food stalls open at 7:30pm); Sunday and Thursday,
June 2, from 10am to11pm (food stalls open at 12:30pm, then 7:30pm).
Cherry-market stalls open at starting hour and during the night markets at
9:30pm.
