Recipes to celebrate the cherry season

Picota is an exclusive product - grown in Spain’s Jerte Valley - that is distinguished by its flavour and sweetness. They are dark red in colour and have a more fleshy, crunchier texture than other cherries.

The Picota is sold without stalks as the stalk is left on the tree when carefully harvested by hand. It also has a unique shape of the fruit itself. Unlike other cherries, which is round, this variety develops a natural point, hence the name Picota (pico is Spanish for peak, or point).

These recipes have been created by Kerstin Rodgers aka Ms Marmite Lover.

Spanish Picota Cherry Salsa with Baked White Fish

Kerstin said: “The Russians have a recipe for sour cherry sauce with sturgeon. The contrast of the white fish with the crimson fruit is stunning. Here I've used Spanish Picota cherries to make a salsa, it works so well as a contrasting flavour. The key to a good salsa is chopping. Take your time to finely slice the ingredients, it will look attractive and the flavours will be balanced. Each mouthful should contain a little of each ingredient.”

Ingredients

For the cherry salsa:

100 g Spanish Picota cherries, pitted and finely chopped

2 limes, juice of 1 green chilli, deseeded and finely sliced

1/2 red onion, finely sliced handful fresh dill or coriander

1 tbsp sea salt

For the fish:

2 plaice or haddock filets

1/2 lemon, thinly sliced

2 tbsp olive oil

Sea salt and pepper, freshly ground

Method

For the cherry salsa:

1 Pit and chop the Picota cherries, adding them to a bowl