Sour Cherry Preserve

Sour cherries used to be the symbol of summer. During the few weeks in July when they appeared in the market, you could spot parties of women wearing plastic aprons, sitting around a table in the yards of old Athenian houses with their sleeves rolled up, a hairpin in hand, pitting cherries, and covered in juice up to their elbows.

It was customary for each woman to make at least 2 pounds of Vissino and some syrup for vissinada, a traditional beverage made by diluting a