Just about every year, in late May or early June, I indulge in a guilty pleasure – one that I can’t help myself from committing, unable to resist the siren call of those delicate orbs blushing golden and calling to me with their perfectly ripe sweetness. Even though they come from the other side of the country and sell for what seems to be an exorbitantly indulgent price, I can never resist: Rainier cherries.
One of a slew of sweet cherry cultivars, Rainier cherries were developed at Washington State University and thusly named for that noble mountain which dominates the Evergreen State’s Cascade Range. A cross between Bing and Van, these cherries are golden inside with a tinge of red on the outside, and are as delicate as they are sweet. Susceptible to rain (which causes the fruit to split), wind (which can lead to bruising when the fruit bumps against others close-by), and temperature (the hotter the temperature the shorter the ripeness window) these are the princesses of the cherry crop and bring princely prices along with them.
While Washington State dominates in overall cherry production, with the USDA predicting a crop that will outpace California by 125,000 tons this year, there are some orchards in the mid-Atlantic region that grow beautiful varieties. There are the sour Montmorencys for pies and tarts, sweet ruby red Bings for eating out of hand or enjoying with ice cream, and last but not least the leading lady for snacking: Queen Annes. Often destined for the maraschino jar, this cultivar is considered to be one of the older varieties and has been subject to various names since the 1800’s including Napoleon, White Napoleon, and Royal Ann. Some even posit that this cultivar spawned the most-popular and most-selling Bing cherry.
