A
maraschino cherry is a preserved, sweetened
cherryThe cherry is the fruit of many plants of the genus Prunus. It is a fleshy fruit that contains a single stony seed. The cherry fruits of commerce are usually obtained from a limited number of species, including especially cultivars of the wild cherry, Prunus avium.The name 'cherry', often as the...
, typically made from light-colored sweet cherries such as the
Royal AnnThe Royal Ann is a variety of cherry. It is used mainly for commercial canning and to make maraschino cherries....
,
RainierRainier is a cultivar of cherry. It was created in 1952 at Washington State University by Harold Fogle. It is a cross between the Bing and Van cultivars....
, or Gold varieties. The cherries are first preserved in a
brineBrine is water saturated or nearly saturated with a salt .It is used to preserve vegetables, fish, and meat, in a process known as brining . Brine is also commonly used to age Halloumi and Feta cheeses.Brine is a common fluid used in large refrigeration installations for the transport of heat from...
solution usually containing
sulfur dioxideSulfur dioxide is the chemical compound with the formula SO
2. It is produced by volcanoes and in various industrial processes. Since coal and petroleum often contain sulfur compounds, their combustion generates sulfur dioxide...
or
alcoholEthanol, also called ethyl alcohol, pure alcohol, grain alcohol, or drinking alcohol, is a volatile, flammable, colorless liquid. It is a psychoactive drug, best known as the type of alcohol found in alcoholic beverages and in modern thermometers. Ethanol is one of the oldest recreational drugs...
, then soaked in a
suspensionIn chemistry, a suspension is a heterogeneous fluid containing solid particles that are sufficiently large for sedimentation. Usually they must be larger than 1 micrometre. The internal phase is dispersed throughout the external phase through mechanical agitation, with the use of certain...
of
food coloringFood coloring is any substance that is added to food or drink to change its color. Food coloring is used both in commercial food production and in domestic cooking...
(common red food dye,
FD&C Red 40Allura Red AC is a red azo dye that goes by several names including: Allura Red, Food Red 17, C.I. 16035, FD&C Red 40, 2-naphthalenesulfonic acid, 6-hydroxy-5--, disodium salt, and disodium 6-hydroxy-5--2-naphthalene-sulfonate. It is used as a food dye and has the E number E129...
),
sugarSugar is a class of edible crystalline substances, mainly sucrose, lactose, and fructose. Human taste buds interpret its flavor as sweet. Sugar as a basic food carbohydrate primarily comes from sugar cane and from sugar beet, but also appears in fruit, honey, sorghum, sugar maple , and in many...
syrupIn cooking, a syrup is a thick, viscous liquid, containing a large amount of dissolved sugars, but showing little tendency to deposit crystals. The viscosity arises from the multiple hydrogen bonds between the dissolved sugar, which has many hydroxyl groups, and the water...
, and other components. Maraschino cherries dyed red are typically
almondThe Almond is a species of tree native to the Middle East. Almond is also the name of the edible and widely cultivated nut of this tree...
-flavored, while cherries dyed green are sometimes
peppermintPeppermint is a hybrid mint, a cross between the watermint and spearmint . The plant, indigenous to Europe, is now widespread in cultivation throughout all regions of the world...
-flavored.
The name
maraschino refers to the
marasca cherryThe Marasca cherry is a type of sour Morello cherry. The Marasca cherry is limited in its availability, as the tree has strict environmental requirements for successful growth. The fruit's largest yield is in Zadar in Croatia, but it has been successfully cultivated in northern Italy, Slovenia,...
and the
maraschinoMaraschino is a bittersweet, clear liqueur flavored with Marasca cherries, which are grown in Dalmatia, Croatia, mostly around the city of Zadar and in Torreglia ....
liqueurA liqueur is an alcoholic beverage that has been flavored with fruit, herbs, nuts, spices, flowers, or cream and bottled with added sugar. Liqueurs are typically quite sweet; they are usually not aged for long but may have resting periods during their production to allow flavors to marry.In some...
made from it, in which maraschino cherries were originally preserved.
A
maraschino cherry is a preserved, sweetened
cherryThe cherry is the fruit of many plants of the genus Prunus. It is a fleshy fruit that contains a single stony seed. The cherry fruits of commerce are usually obtained from a limited number of species, including especially cultivars of the wild cherry, Prunus avium.The name 'cherry', often as the...
, typically made from light-colored sweet cherries such as the
Royal AnnThe Royal Ann is a variety of cherry. It is used mainly for commercial canning and to make maraschino cherries....
,
RainierRainier is a cultivar of cherry. It was created in 1952 at Washington State University by Harold Fogle. It is a cross between the Bing and Van cultivars....
, or Gold varieties. The cherries are first preserved in a
brineBrine is water saturated or nearly saturated with a salt .It is used to preserve vegetables, fish, and meat, in a process known as brining . Brine is also commonly used to age Halloumi and Feta cheeses.Brine is a common fluid used in large refrigeration installations for the transport of heat from...
solution usually containing
sulfur dioxideSulfur dioxide is the chemical compound with the formula SO
2. It is produced by volcanoes and in various industrial processes. Since coal and petroleum often contain sulfur compounds, their combustion generates sulfur dioxide...
or
alcoholEthanol, also called ethyl alcohol, pure alcohol, grain alcohol, or drinking alcohol, is a volatile, flammable, colorless liquid. It is a psychoactive drug, best known as the type of alcohol found in alcoholic beverages and in modern thermometers. Ethanol is one of the oldest recreational drugs...
, then soaked in a
suspensionIn chemistry, a suspension is a heterogeneous fluid containing solid particles that are sufficiently large for sedimentation. Usually they must be larger than 1 micrometre. The internal phase is dispersed throughout the external phase through mechanical agitation, with the use of certain...
of
food coloringFood coloring is any substance that is added to food or drink to change its color. Food coloring is used both in commercial food production and in domestic cooking...
(common red food dye,
FD&C Red 40Allura Red AC is a red azo dye that goes by several names including: Allura Red, Food Red 17, C.I. 16035, FD&C Red 40, 2-naphthalenesulfonic acid, 6-hydroxy-5--, disodium salt, and disodium 6-hydroxy-5--2-naphthalene-sulfonate. It is used as a food dye and has the E number E129...
),
sugarSugar is a class of edible crystalline substances, mainly sucrose, lactose, and fructose. Human taste buds interpret its flavor as sweet. Sugar as a basic food carbohydrate primarily comes from sugar cane and from sugar beet, but also appears in fruit, honey, sorghum, sugar maple , and in many...
syrupIn cooking, a syrup is a thick, viscous liquid, containing a large amount of dissolved sugars, but showing little tendency to deposit crystals. The viscosity arises from the multiple hydrogen bonds between the dissolved sugar, which has many hydroxyl groups, and the water...
, and other components. Maraschino cherries dyed red are typically
almondThe Almond is a species of tree native to the Middle East. Almond is also the name of the edible and widely cultivated nut of this tree...
-flavored, while cherries dyed green are sometimes
peppermintPeppermint is a hybrid mint, a cross between the watermint and spearmint . The plant, indigenous to Europe, is now widespread in cultivation throughout all regions of the world...
-flavored.
History
The name
maraschino refers to the
marasca cherryThe Marasca cherry is a type of sour Morello cherry. The Marasca cherry is limited in its availability, as the tree has strict environmental requirements for successful growth. The fruit's largest yield is in Zadar in Croatia, but it has been successfully cultivated in northern Italy, Slovenia,...
and the
maraschinoMaraschino is a bittersweet, clear liqueur flavored with Marasca cherries, which are grown in Dalmatia, Croatia, mostly around the city of Zadar and in Torreglia ....
liqueurA liqueur is an alcoholic beverage that has been flavored with fruit, herbs, nuts, spices, flowers, or cream and bottled with added sugar. Liqueurs are typically quite sweet; they are usually not aged for long but may have resting periods during their production to allow flavors to marry.In some...
made from it, in which maraschino cherries were originally preserved. They were, at first, produced for and consumed as a delicacy by royalty and the wealthy.
In the U.S.
The cherries were first introduced in the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
in the late 19th century, where they were served in fine bars and
restaurantA restaurant prepares and serves food and drink to customers. Meals are generally served and eaten on premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and food delivery services...
s. By the turn of the century, American producers were experimenting with flavors such as the almond extract used today and substituting Queen Anne cherries for marasca cherries. In 1912, the USDA defined "maraschino cherries" as "marasca cherries preserved in maraschino" under the authority of the Food and Drugs Act of 1906. The artificially colored and sweetened Royal Anne variety had to be called "Imitation Maraschino Cherries" instead.Food Inspection Decision 141, defined marasca cherries and maraschino themselves. It was signed on Feb. 17, 1912.
During
Prohibition in the United StatesIn the history of the United States, Prohibition, also known as The Noble Experiment, is the period from 1919 to 1933, during which the sale, manufacture, and transportation of alcohol for consumption were banned nationally as mandated in the Eighteenth Amendment to the United States...
as of 1920, the decreasingly popular alcoholic variety was illegal as well.
Ernest H. WiegandErnest H. Wiegand was a professor of horticulture at Oregon State University who, in 1925 during prohibition, developed a brine method that led to the modern maraschino cherry. He won the Nicholas Appert Award in 1960...
, a professor of
horticultureHorticulture is the industry and science of plant cultivation. Some would say that horticulture is the process of preparing soil for the planting of seeds, tubers, or cuttings. Horticulturists work and conduct research in the disciplines of plant propagation and cultivation, crop production, plant...
at
Oregon State UniversityOregon State University is a coeducational, public research university located in Corvallis, Oregon, United States. The university offers undergraduate, graduate and doctoral degrees and a multitude of research opportunities. There are over 200 academic degree programs offered through the university...
, developed the modern method of manufacturing maraschino cherries using a brine solution rather than alcohol. Thus, most modern maraschino cherries have only a historical connection with the liqueur maraschino.
According to Bob Cain, who worked with Wiegand at OSU, Prohibition did not have anything to do with Wiegand's research: His quest was to make a better brining process for cherries that would not soften them. At the time Wiegand began his research, people were using several ways to preserve maraschino cherries without alcohol, long before Prohibition went into effect. What Wiegand did, Payne says, was take a process that people had their own recipes for—"and who knows what they were putting in there" (frequently not alcohol)—and turned it into a science, something replicable.
When Wiegand began his research,
sodium metabisulfiteSodium metabisulfite or sodium pyrosulfite is an inorganic compound of chemical formula Na2S2O5. The name is sometimes referred to as disodium...
was being used to preserve maraschino cherries. Some accounts indicate that this preservation method was being used long before Prohibition.
Some manufacturers used maraschino or imitation liqueurs to flavor the cherries, but newspaper stories from the early part of the century suggest that many manufacturers stopped using alcohol before Prohibition.
After
Prohibition was repealedIn 1919, the requisite number of legislatures of the States ratified The 18th Amendment to the Federal Constitution, enabling national Prohibition within one year of ratification...
in 1933 the
Food and Drug AdministrationThe Food and Drug Administration is a Government agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services and is responsible for regulating and supervising the safety of foods, tobacco products, dietary supplements, Medication drugs, vaccines, Biopharmaceutical, blood transfusion,...
revisited federal policy towards canned cherries. It held a hearing in April 1939 to establish a new
standard of identityStandard of identity for food are the mandatory, federally-set requirements that determine what a food product must contain in order to be marketed under a certain name in interstate commerce...
. Since 1940, "maraschino cherries" have been defined as "cherries which have been dyed red, impregnated with sugar and packed in a sugar sirup [sic] flavored with oil of bitter almonds or a similar flavor".
Uses
Maraschino cherries are an ingredient in many
cocktailA cocktail is a style of mixed drink. Originally a mixture of distilled spirits, sugar, water, and bitters, the word has gradually come to mean almost any mixed drink containing alcohol....
s. As a garnish, they often decorate baked
hamHam is the thigh and rump of pork, cut from the haunch of a pig or boar. Although it may be cooked and served fresh, most ham is cured in some fashion. Cuts referred to as ham in the U.S. are also called gammon in the U.K. and Ireland.-China:...
,
cakesCake is a form of food that is usually sweet and often baked. Cakes normally combine some kind of flour, a sweetening agent , a binding agent , fats , a...
,
pastryPastry is the name given to various kinds of baked goods made from ingredients such as flour, butter, shortening, baking powder or eggs. Small cakes, tarts and other sweet baked goods are called "pastries"....
,
parfaitParfait is a French word meaning "perfect." In English it has several meanings:* Parfait * Parfait glass, a unique shape of glassware used to serve various parfaits* Cathar Perfect , a religious leader among the Cathars...
s,
milkshakeA milkshake is a sweet, cold beverage which is made from milk, ice cream or iced milk, and flavorings or sweeteners such as fruit syrup or chocolate sauce. Milkshakes are usually served in a tall glass with a straw, and whipped cream may be added as a topping. Several popular milkshake flavors...
s,
ice cream sundaeThe sundae is an ice cream dessert. It typically consists of a scoop of ice cream topped with sauce or syrup , and in some cases other toppings such as chopped nuts, whipped cream, or maraschino cherries....
s, and
ice cream sodaThe icecream soda, float , spider , brown cow or black cow is a beverage that consists of one or more scoops of ice cream in either a soft drink or a mixture of flavored syrup and carbonated water...
s. They are also used as an accompaniment to sweet paan.