The History of Maraschino Cherries

Maraschino cherries can be traced back to the marasca, a type of cherry cultivated in Dalmatia, a region that was once part of the Kingdom of Italy and is now part of modern-day Croatia. Farmers first mixed fresh cherries with alcohol after realizing that cherries soaked in spirits could be transported much more easily than fresh cherries. Around the 16th century, Dominican monks in Dalmatia first began distilling marasca cherries. These became known as maraschino cherries. The Luxardo distillery in Zara (now Zadar, Croatia) began selling cherry liqueur and candied marasca cherries in 1905. This continued until World War II nearly ended the family’s operations, but one member was able to escape to Italy; he managed to get a tree sapling and the written recipe, and the traditional preparation of maraschino cherries lived on. Luxardo is still in operation today and sells what they refer to as the “original maraschino cherries” and related products. Marasca cherries first made their way to the United States in the 1890s, where they were served mostly at hotels and restaurants catering to the wealthy. However, alcohol-infused cherries were affected by Prohibition, so an Oregon-based professor named Ernest Wiegand began to research ways of preserving cherries without alcohol. His experiments used calcium salt, sugar-syrup, and an injection of red coloring. His candied, American-style maraschino cherries soon became more popular than the imported variety, even after Prohibition ended. Today, these are the maraschino cherries that most Americans think of when they hear the term. They are frequently used to garnish cocktails and mocktails, including the famous Shirley Temple drink, and are also used to top ice cream sundaes.