Fresh cherries go well with goat's cheese... Photograph: AlamyCherry and almond
Cherry stones and bitter almonds contain a volatile oil that can be used to?produce a compound called benzaldehyde. Benzaldehyde is the second most popular molecule in the US flavour industry, after vanillin, and is used to synthesise both almond and cherry flavours. Sip a cherry cola and?think of Amaretto and you'll taste?the?proximity.
It's the cherry stone that tastes most like almond, not the flesh. Unless it's a maraschino cherry. Brined while unripe and green, maraschino cherries were originally steeped in a liqueur made from the juice, stones and leaves of cherry, which gave them a lovely, drunken marzipan flavour. These days most maraschinos are steeped in sugar syrup and given an almond flavouring, which doesn't taste half as nice – so if you want the best garnish for your manhattan you'll have to steep your own, or seek out an artisan producer.
Make a manhattan by stirring 60ml good rye or bourbon, 30ml sweet vermouth and a dash of angostura bitters with ice and then straining over a maraschino cherry.
Cherry and chocolate
A winning combination. Even if you turn your nose up at black forest gateau, or Ben and Jerry's Cherry Garcia ice-cream, you can't deny that cherry, with its fruit and nut flavour, is a natural partner for chocolate.
Sour morello cherries, grown in the?orchards of the Black Forest in south-western Germany, are the usual choice for combining with chocolate. Delia Smith makes a roulade of them, while Nigella Lawson makes chocolate muffins with morello cherry jam mixed into the batter.
If you're not in the mood for baking, a good chocolate counter should be able to furnish you with a half-pound of?cherries slouching kirsch-drunk in their chocolate shells.
Cherry and goat's cheese
Sweet cherries work well with young goat's cheese, particularly when fresh, grassy examples of both are available. Keep an eye out for them in high summer and, if you love long walks punctuated by picnics but can't bear to lug around a hamper or a coolbox, this less-is-more lunch is ideal. Wrap fresh cherries and a few rounds of goat's cheese in a paper bag with only as many slices of crumbly, nutty bread as you plan to eat, then head off to your picnic spot. I like to eat some of the cheese piled on the?bread first and then relish the rest of it with the cherries, ending the meal?with?the remaining cherries on?their?own.
Cherry and hazelnut
Added to your muesli, a handful of hazelnuts and some dried sour cherries recall a mug of sweet, milky tea and a?cigarette. Dried cherries have a tangy sweet-sourness with strong hints of tobacco and a clear tannic tea flavour, which marry well with hazelnuts' milky sweetness.
Cherry and smoked fish
Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall suggests a?seasonal combination of hot?smoked sea trout and a tart morello cherry compote made from fresh stoned cherries that have been simmered with?a little brown sugar. Serve both warm with a watercress salad and slices of?walnut?bread.
Cherry and walnut
The sort of partnership Alan Bennett might get wistful about. Poor walnut is?in danger of being squeezed out by?more newly fashionable nuts – macadamia, pecan, pine – and glace cherries by overqualified, under-sweet fruits, such as blueberry and cranberry. Make a cherry and walnut cake, just for?old times' sake.
This is an edited book extract from The Flavour Thesaurus by Niki Segnit. To order a copy for ￡12.99 with free UK p&p (saving ￡6), go to guardianbookshop.co.uk
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