The Spirit World

Everybody is familiar with maraschino cherries, those bright red cherries that often find their way into various deserts as well as being used as a garnish for a variety of cocktails.

There is however a lot that people don’t know about maraschino cherries.

To begin with, it technically shouldn’t be pronounced “mare-uh-SHEE-no” but “mare-uh-SKEE-no”, it comes from the fact that the cherries originally used were Marasca cherries, hence the hard “K” instead of the soft “SH”.

It should also be pointed out, that the cherries that we often refer to as maraschino cherries, should in fact be instead referred to as “imitation maraschino cherries”. This is how they were legally defined in 1912 by the US Food and Drug Administration. Real maraschino cherries were marasca cherries which were preserved in maraschino liqueur. Unfortunately today, it is extremely difficult, if not impossible, to find real maraschino cherries.

Why?

Well, you can blame it on Prohibition, or perhaps more accurately, on the overall Temperance movement, as well as a little American ingenuity.

It was the late 1800’s, and real maraschino cherries were being imported from Italy and being used not only in cocktails, but also in fine restaurants. These cherries were fairly expensive, as well as containing alcohol, which was getting a pretty bad name across the country. Both of these facts led to various American companies trying to come up with an alternative. Eventually the modern imitation maraschino cherry was invented. This new product not only provided a much cheaper alternative, but it also omitted the alcohol, thus allowing it to be seen as more socially appropriate.

Modern (imitation) maraschino cherries are made by taking (usually) Queen Ann cherries and soaking them in chemicals which will leach out virtually all of their color and flavor, but at the same time leave the flesh of the cherries relatively solid. These “ghosts” are then soaked in a artificially colored, artificially flavored syrup solution which will introduce the radiant red color and the sweet slightly almondy flavor that is now seen as standard.

When they first came out, they were deemed as unfit for consumption by the food and restaurant critiques of the day, perhaps this would have spelled the end of them, but unfortunately Prohibition came around right about that same time. Because of Prohibition, the original maraschino cherries were no longer able to be imported due to the fact that they were soaking in alcohol. This meant that the only form of maraschino cherries which would be available for the next 13 years would be the imitation ones. By the time Prohibition was over, the originals were long forgotten, and the imitation variety had now become the standard.

Several years ago, there wasn’t a single “real” maraschino cherry to be found anywhere in the US, they were still being made in Europe, but the imitation variety had so far supplanted them that there was no longer a market. Even in Europe, the imitation was more common than the real. Over the years however, as the overall interest in quality cocktails has increased, so too has the desire to improve the quality of the various ingredients that go into them. Thankfully this includes a desire to use real maraschino cherries.

While still hard to find, you can occasionally find marasca cherries soaked in maraschino liqueur being sold at various gourmet shops. Dean & Deluca, Williams & Sonoma, and a variety of others have been known to carry these on their shelves (side by side with high-end imitations, so be sure to read the labels carefully!). Hopefully we will eventually find them common enough so that they will be available to all who want them, even if they will necessarily be at a higher price than the imitation variety.

It is important to note however, that maraschino cherries (real or imitation) weren’t necessarily the original “cherry” garnish used by bartenders in the 1800’s. Many cocktail books of the day would refer simply to “garnish with a cherry” in their recipes, without any specifics as to if this was a maraschino cherry, or a cherry prepared/preserved in some other way, or perhaps even a fresh cherry. The original maraschino cherry didn’t start making itself known in the US until the mid to late 1800’s, so it is probably safe to say that these bartenders were using something besides a maraschino cherry.

What I like to do, is to start with dried cherries, and soak them in some form of alcohol (brandy, whiskey, or maraschino liqueur) to slightly rehydrate them, and then use these as a more elegant and distinguished garnish then the neon red variety. Thankfully here in Seattle there is a great source for dried cherries in our famous Pike Place Market. Chukar Cherries provides a variety of dried cherries and fruits, including a dried bing cherry that I find works excellent for my needs. Thankfully they mail-order (as well as being available on Amazon), so if you aren’t in the Seattle area, and if you can’t find a local source for quality dried cherries, you can still easily get some. I find that dried bing cherries work the best because their dark, almost black, color doesn’t bleach out like some others do when soaked in alcohol.

As for pronunciation… I often refer to the imitation variety as “mare-uh-SHEE-no” leaving “mare-uh-SKEE-no” for use when refering to either the real version, or the liqueur.