Botanical atlas

Mahaleb Cherry

Prunus mahaleb

For centuries, home bakers across the Levant, Greece, Turkey, Armenia, and Cyprus have cracked open the small black cherries of this tree not for their thin, bitter flesh, but for the pit inside. Ground fine, that kernel becomes mahlab, a spice with a haunting scent somewhere between cherry, almond, and orange blossom, worked into Easter breads like tsoureki and choreg and into shortbread cookies like ma'amoul and kahk. In France, the tree earned a second life entirely apart from the kitchen. Its fine, richly scented wood, known there as bois de Sainte-Lucie, was carved by artisans in the Vosges mountains into walking sticks, pipe bowls, and small treasure boxes prized for holding their fragrance for years. The tree has also long served orchardists as a tough, lime-tolerant rootstock, grafted with sweet and sour cherry varieties to help them thrive in poor, dry soils where they otherwise would not.

In tradition.

For centuries, home bakers across the Levant, Greece, Turkey, Armenia, and Cyprus have cracked open the small black cherries of this tree not for their thin, bitter flesh, but for the pit inside. Ground fine, that kernel becomes mahlab, a spice with a haunting scent somewhere between cherry, almond, and orange blossom, worked into Easter breads like tsoureki and choreg and into shortbread cookies like ma'amoul and kahk. In France, the tree earned a second life entirely apart from the kitchen. Its fine, richly scented wood, known there as bois de Sainte-Lucie, was carved by artisans in the Vosges mountains into walking sticks, pipe bowls, and small treasure boxes prized for holding their fragrance for years. The tree has also long served orchardists as a tough, lime-tolerant rootstock, grafted with sweet and sour cherry varieties to help them thrive in poor, dry soils where they otherwise would not.

Safety.

The raw kernels contain amygdalin, which can release cyanide if chewed or eaten in quantity, so never crack open and eat the pits. The mahlab spice sold for baking is prepared safely in small amounts; buy it from a reputable spice supplier rather than preparing it yourself from wild trees.