Visinada

Ingredients

Cherries

• 1.5 kgsour cherries, visino, stoned
• 1.2 kgsugar
• juice of 1 lemon

To serve

• very cold water
• ice

Optional

• a strip of lemon peel
• 2cloves
• a small piece of cinnamon

Equipment

• a cherry stoner
• sterilised bottles

To serve

• in a tall glass, with the preserved cherries in a spoon dish alongside

Directions

1. Use visino, morello or another genuinely sour cherry, not a sweet dessert cherry. Use a cherry stoner and work over a bowl, since a good deal of juice comes out and all of it goes in.
2. Layer the stoned cherries with the sugar in a bowl and leave them overnight. Do not add water. Tip the whole lot into a wide pan and bring it slowly to a simmer, stirring until any remaining sugar dissolves.
3. Skim off the pink foam that rises, and keep skimming. That foam is protein and impurities, and leaving it in makes the syrup cloudy and shortens how long it keeps. Simmer it gently for 15 to 20 minutes. Keep it at a gentle simmer rather than a hard boil, which would break the cherries up entirely and darken the syrup.
4. Add the lemon juice near the end. The acid stops the syrup crystallising in the bottle and it sharpens the flavour, and it is not optional. Drop a little on a cold plate: it should be syrupy rather than watery, but it should still pour easily. Do not reduce it to a jam.
5. Pour the whole lot through a sieve set over a bowl and let it drip without pressing. Do not press the fruit through, which clouds the syrup. Let gravity do it, and the cherries stay whole for the spoon sweet. Bottle the syrup in sterilised bottles while hot and seal them.
6. Put the drained cherries in a jar with a few spoonfuls of the syrup, which is the spoon sweet. It keeps a year sealed and several weeks refrigerated once opened. Pour a generous measure of syrup into a tall glass, roughly one part to four or five parts very cold water.
7. Add plenty of ice and stir it. It should be sharply sour behind the sweetness, and if it tastes like squash there is too much syrup or not enough acid. Serve it very cold, in summer, and offer the spoon sweet alongside on a small dish with a teaspoon.

Technique

• The drained cherries become glyko koutaliou, the spoon sweet.
• Offering a spoon sweet with cold water is an old hospitality custom.
• Sour cherries are in season only briefly, which is why it is preserved.

Substitutions

• Morello or any genuinely sour cherry.
• Frozen sour cherries, which work well.

Variations

• With a little cinnamon and clove.
• Poured over ice cream.
• Made into a cocktail with vodka or tsipouro.

History

A summer cordial from Greek preserved visino cherries, traditionally served to guests with a spoon sweet.

Frequently asked questions

What is Visinada?

Visinada is a drink from Greece: sour cherry syrup diluted with cold water, deep red and tart. A summer cordial from Greek preserved visino cherries, traditionally served to guests with a spoon sweet.

How long does Visinada take to make?

Visinada takes 20 min plus 24 hr resting of preparation and 30 min of cooking. The recipe makes about 1 litre of syrup. It is rated easy to make.

What can I substitute in Visinada?

Yes, within limits. Morello or any genuinely sour cherry. Frozen sour cherries, which work well.

What is the most important thing to get right in Visinada?

Layer the stoned cherries with the sugar in a bowl and leave them overnight. Do not add water. Tip the whole lot into a wide pan and bring it slowly to a simmer, stirring until any remaining sugar dissolves.