The price of cherries
Christmas isn't Christmas without cherries, and a whole bag of exotic fruits that only seemed to grace our shops in the winter months when I was a child. I make it sound like some Dickensian flash-back. It wasn't so very long ago, but I suppose, I only remember eating fruit when it was in season. Even when I moved to Singapore, some 20 years ago (oh gosh, really? that long ago?), the fruit was seasonal. Thank goodness, as we were only subjected to the rancid pong of durians for the couple of months they were in season.
But, like everything on our shelves these days, the global transport and distribution hub means that we can eat cherries, strawberries, and if you really must, durian, most months of the year.
Where is the fun in that?
It's like being able to eat Cadbury's creme eggs all year round. The novelty wears off. What's the point of buying creme eggs at Easter if you can get them any time of the year?
And so the same with cherries. Except, cherries still seem to be reserved exclusively for a couple of seasons of the year. One of them is Christmas. Unlike the mandarin oranges, apples and bananas I used to find at the bottom of my Christmas sack - yes, we had sacks, or rather old pillow cases, I suppose because no one in the family had big feet - anyway, unlike the other fruits, cherries do not lend themselves to being stuffed into stockings or sacks.
Cherries, abundant in July, in the UK, are packed with antioxidants, and something called, anthocyanins, so everyone is keen to advise us. They also help you sleep. I have not tried it, as I do not have enough matresses to pile one on top of the other in some mad princess-and-the-pea-like manner to see whether they hinder or help.
They supposedly stop gout, reduce muscle pain, slow ageing skin, and are good for the heart. What a miracle fruit. And, if you live in Victoria, Australia, round about Christmas time, you can go and pick your own. I always thought that was only for strawberries. Never mind.
Well, with all this hype about cherries being a miracle fruit, you would have thought that the supermarkets would be keen to sell them by the box load so as to keep customers healthy and eating whatever makes us feel unhealthy.
Unfortunately, that is not the case, and once again, this year, I picked up a box of cherries and then replaced it on the cooler shelf, after emitting a slight squeak (to muffle an expletive). What might have cost me some S$6 in the UK earlier this summer, and that would have been for two boxes, was on special offer for S$19.99!
Special offer??
And then the real shock - my eyes wandered up to the higher shelves; and there sat a rather large box of cherries. Surely, these must be more affordable?
$99.99. Just shy of $100 for a box of cherries. I began to wonder whether the stones are made of gold. It was only a wonder, because I left the box on the shelf.
So, I suppose we will never know if the cherries imported into Singapore have gold stones inside.
Unless, of course, you have an exceedingly kind friend, who turns up for lunch with a box (the smaller one), of cherries, a tub of whipping cream and a box of mince pies for lunch. We ate salad, hummus and taboulé first.
With great anticipation, I bit into my first cherry of the year in Singapore - the stone was not made of gold.
Thank you, Monica. You made my Christmas :)
http://www.care2.com/greenliving/11-health-benefits-of-the-beautiful-cherry.html
http://www.choosecherries.com/health-and-nutrition/
http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/natasha-turner-nd/cherries-benefits_b_3757989.html
https://www.cherryhill.com.au/pick-your-own
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