So that's where maraschino cherries come from!

Sometimes, ignorance is bliss.

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Hello friends!

Remember your first job? My first ‘proper’ job as a teenager was working at the local ice cream hot spot, Dari-Licious.

I can still remember my first day working there – and making my first ice cream cone.

Under the watchful eye of my supervisor, I picked up a cone and carefully maneuvered it underneath the stream of vanilla ice cream, gently swirling it around evenly on the cone.

I thought I made a pretty good cone for a first-timer, and proudly showed my work to my supervisor.

She took one look at my cone and said curtly,

“That’s Dairy Queen.”

Before I knew what was happening, she smacked my ice cream art off with a metal spatula – then showed me how to make a “proper” Dari-Licious ice cream cone.

After perfecting the way the ice cream stacked, we topped our cones with a cherry, as the slogan promised:

But it wasn’t until I moved from the US to New Zealand at age 26 that I realized the neon cherries I enjoyed were not the same cherries others were accustomed to.

So, where did maraschino cherries come from?

I was curious…

It turns out those ubiquitous shiny red maraschino cherries topping ice cream and decorating cocktails are not the original maraschino cherries.

But those bright red cherries were created to solve a problem.

The original maraschino cherries were made with a sour, dark variety called marasca cherries, and used to make a liqueur called ‘Maraschino.’

They were cultivated in an Italian province (now part of Croatia) and candied in a syrup of marasca cherry juice and sugar. 

The maraschino cherry became popular in Europe in the 19th century, and later in the US as Americans brought them back from their European travels. 

By the early 1900s, maraschino cherries were bobbing around cocktails in New York City, and being enjoyed primarily by the wealthy, as they were expensive and hard to find. 

Then a cheaper European version of ‘maraschino cherries’ hit the US market.

They were made using sugar and dyes, and flavoured with vanilla or almond. They weren’t made with marasca cherries – but Americans still devoured them. 

(Interestingly, the debate over what a ‘real’ maraschino cherry was led to the US Food & Drug Administration getting involved. In 1912, they decided that the label ‘maraschino cherries’ should only be applied to marasca cherries preserved in maraschino. This debate picked up again in 1939, and you can read the FDA’s updated policy about marascino cherries here).

But as the cherry’s popularity grew, farmers in Oregon saw an opportunity.

The Oregon climate was well-suited to growing cherries – but they had a problem.

The Queen Anne cherry that thrived in Oregon spoiled quickly, and took on a mushy consistency when preserved in a brine.

That made them soft and squishy – and less desirable – than their counterparts imported from Europe.

That’s when Ernest Wiegand got involved…

Ernest Wiegand

In 1925, Wiegand, a horticulturist at Oregon Agricultural College (now Oregon State University), began working on a new preservation process to help local cherry growers.

He focused on figuring out how to best preserve the shape and structure of local cherries to the standards Americans expected. 

It took him six years – but eventually, he discovered that adding calcium salts to the brine would preserve the cherries.

Thanks to Wiegand’s discovery, the Oregon maraschino cherries (which were also marinated in syrup and dyed to get their bright red color) became a standard fixture on ice cream sundaes and in Manhattans.

Oregon is now home to two leading maraschino cherry producers – and Wiegand’s method is still the standard used in maraschino cherry production.

You mean they don’t naturally look like this?

FUN FACT: Some believe that Wiegand’s research was inspired due to Prohibition – as cherries could not be sold in liqueur at that time.

But according to Wiegand’s family, that’s a myth!

The Original Maraschino Cherries

If you’re interested in fancy maraschino cherries, check out the Luxardo maraschino cherries from Italy. They are delicious in cocktails and ideal on top of ice cream (says their website).

Have you tried these?

**I’m not going to tell you the other things I learned about maraschino cherries, because I don’t want to ruin them for you. But if you’re curious, here’s an article that may make you less excited to eat them!

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How Can I Help?

I’ll keep saying it: Communication matters.

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And good news, friends… If you want to improve your communication (and get all the good things that come with that), I’m your gal.

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Stay Curious!

-Beth

This is me (really writing and drinking coffee).