National Cherries Jubilee Day is observed annually on September 24. Smitten with this simply elegant dessert, cherry lovers celebrate National Cherries Jubilee Day with delight.
This show-stopping flambéed dish is credited to the famous chef, Auguste Escoffie, who created it for the 1897 Diamond Jubilee celebrations of Queen Victoria.
- The cherry is the fruit of many plants of the genus Prunus, and is a fleshy stone fruit.
- The cherry fruits of commerce are usually obtained from a limited number of species, including especially cultivars of the wild cherry, Prunus avium.
- It is believed that the sweet cherry originated in the area between the Black and Caspian Seas in Asia Minor around 70 B.C. The Romans introduced them to Britain in the first century A.D.
- The English colonists brought cherries to North America in the 1600’s.
- The word ‘cherry’ comes from the French word ‘cerise,’ which in turn comes from the Latin words cerasum and Cerasus, the classical name of the modern city Giresun in Turkey.
- Records indicate that cherries were a prized food in a region of China dating back to 600 BC – fit for royalty and cherished by locals.
- There are more than 1,000 varieties of cherries in the United States, but fewer than 10 are produced commercially.
- On average, there are about 44 cherries in one pound.
- In an average crop year, a sweet cherry tree will produce 800 cherries.
- While they have long been a popular dessert fruit, cherries were used for their medicinal purposes in the 15th and 16th centuries.
- Despite the short fruiting season, Americans consume an average of 1.5 pounds of cherries each year.
- The world’s heaviest cherry was grown by Gerardo Maggipinto (Italy) and weighed 0.76 oz on June 21, 2003.
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