Читать книгу The Taste of Britain - Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall - Страница 207

Wild cherries (geans or mazzards) have been eaten in Britain since prehistoric times (Roach, 1985) but the development of cultivated fruit was the work of Mediterranean cultures. Pliny reported: ‘Before the victory of Lucullus in the war against Mithridates … there were no cherry trees in Italy. Lucullus first imported them from Pontus [Asia Minor] and in 120 years they have crossed the ocean and got as far as Britain. ‘This seems pretty firm evidence and it is certain that Roman soldiers were plentifully supplied - perhaps from the precursors of the Kentish orchards. In the Middle Ages cherries were a common occupant of garden plots and sold in street markets. However, Europe was still the chief source of the fruit, where climate and skill combined for a larger harvest.

Kent became a centre of cultivation during the sixteenth century, partly because of good water-transport to London, the main market, partly because there were close links with orchardists and gardeners across the Channel. Most varieties grown came from Europe, especially Flanders and France, but there were early signs of specifically English breeds, notably the ‘Duke’ cherries, hybrids of the sweet Prunus avium and the sour Prunus cerasus. This group was known to the French as Anglais’.

Several classic varieties were bred by nurserymen in the 1800s, including Frogmore Early and Early Rivers, both introduced in the middle of the century. Two others are Bradbourne Black and Merton Glory, the latter introduced in the 1940s. For technical reasons, most orchards consist of several cherry varieties grown together; of the large number of varieties available, about 12 are commercially important.

The area devoted to cherry orchards has sadly diminished and we rely on imports again, as we used to in the fifteenth century, when they were freighted over from Flanders. Kent, however, has kept its first place among the regions of production.