Pickled cherries

Just like "tangerines at Christmas or strawberries in June", says Rowley Leigh in the Financial Times, the cherry season should remain "brief but bountiful". And, as with all the best soft fruit, it is "hard to improve on nature", with nothing quite matching up to "the bowl of cherries on the kitchen table", or the brown paper bag crammed with plump, lacquered fruit. Except, perhaps, with pickling. Fresh cherries may be the "embodiment of innocence" but "pickled, or spiced, cherries are more sophisticated". Eat them plain, like olives, "as a nibble with an apéritif" or alongside cold meats, including salami and Parma ham; and they are excellent with roast duck. Especially fine is a pickled cherry with a tasty piece of Lancashire cheese. Glass storage jars must always be scrupulously clean: an extra turn in the dishwasher just before use is always a good idea.  ·