Maraschino cherry

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A close-up of a Maraschino cherry

A maraschino cherry is a preserved, sweetened cherry, typically made from light-colored sweet cherries such as the Royal Ann, Rainier, or Gold varieties. The cherries are first preserved in a brine solution (usually sulfur dioxide or alcohol), then soaked in a suspension of food coloring, sugar syrup, artificial and natural flavors, and other components. Maraschino cherries dyed red are typically almond-flavored, while cherries dyed green are sometimes peppermint-flavored. In the US, cherries dyed green have the same almond-maraschino flavor as red cherries.

1 History
- 1.1 In the U.S.
2 References
3 See also
4 Further reading

[edit] History

The name maraschino refers to the marasca cherry and the maraschino liqueur 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. Today they are a common dessert and drink garnish. Carmine, also known as Red #4, is a coloring agent commonly used as a food dye. While it is derived from the cochineal insect it has never been used in modern Maraschino cherry production. Instead, the cherries use the most common red food dye, FD&C Red #40.

[edit] In the U.S.

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The cherries were first introduced in the United States in the late 19th century, where they were served in fine restaurants. 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. Artificially colored and sweetened Royal Anne variety had to be called "Imitation Maraschino Cherries" instead.^[1] During periods of cherry shortage, anemic olives are often used instead of cherries. Maraschino cherries made of olives are still marketed as "cherries."

Food Inspection Decision 141, defined marasca cherries and maraschino themselves. It was signed on Feb. 17, 1912^[2] by all three members of the Board of Food and Drug Inspection: its chairman Harvey W. Wiley, his political ally Roscoe E. Doolittle, and his political enemy Frederick L. Dunlap. Dunlap had taken a leave of absence after an attempt to remove Wiley from the Board backfired, and Decision 141 was the first decision he signed upon his return. 141 was also the last Decision Wiley ever signed; he resigned a month later, partially over Secretary Wilson's refusal to remove Dunlap from the Board.^[3]

During Prohibition in the United States as of 1920, the decreasingly popular alcoholic variety was illegal as well. Ernest H. Wiegand, a professor of horticulture at Oregon State 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.

It was not until after Prohibition was repealed in 1933 that the Food and Drug Administration revisited federal policy towards canned cherries. It held a hearing in April 1939 for the purpose of establishing a new standard of identity. Since 1940, "maraschino cherries" have been defined as "cherries which have been dyed red, impregnated with sugar and packed in a sugar sirup flavored with oil of bitter almonds or a similar flavor" [sic].^[1]

According to Bob Cain, who worked with Wiegand at OSU, Prohibition didn't have anything to do with Wiegand's research: His focus was on how to make a better brining process for cherries, one that wouldn't turn them soft. At the time Wiegand began his research, people were already using all kinds of ways to preserve maraschino cherries other than 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.

At the time Wiegand began his research, sodium metabisulfite already was being used to preserve maraschino cherries. Some accounts indicate that this preservation method was being used long before Prohibition even went into effect.

Some manufacturers used maraschino or imitation liqueurs to flavor the cherries, but newspaper stories from the early part of the century suggest that a lot of manufacturers had stopped using alcohol altogether before Prohibition started.

Maraschino cherries are an important ingredient in many cocktails. As a garnish, they often decorate baked ham, cake, pastry, parfaits, milkshakes, ice cream sundaes, and ice cream sodas. They can also be found as an accompaniment to sweet paan.