WEBVTT - How Do Maraschino Cherries Work?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Brainstuff, a production of iHeartRadio, Hey brain Stuff

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<v Speaker 1>Lauren Vogelbaum here. Anyone who's ever had an ice cream

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<v Speaker 1>Sunday Manhattan cocktail, or even an old fashioned fruit cup

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<v Speaker 1>is familiar with the ubiquitous candy red Maraschino cherry. It

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<v Speaker 1>may not seem to have much of a relationship to

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<v Speaker 1>a real cherry, but make no mistake. Maraschinos start off

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<v Speaker 1>as cherries on trees in the US. Sweet varieties like

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<v Speaker 1>the Royal Anne or Queen Anne from the Pacific Northwest

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<v Speaker 1>are used, but originally the cherries of choice or sour

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<v Speaker 1>Morasca cherries, a type that grows in coastal Croatia. In

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<v Speaker 1>the early to mid eighteen hundreds, Morasca cherry farmers looking

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<v Speaker 1>to preserve their harvest developed a method that involved first

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<v Speaker 1>brining the cherries in salty seawater, then rinsing all the

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<v Speaker 1>brine away and jarring them in cherry liqueur. The liqueur

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<v Speaker 1>was made from whole Morasca cherries, pits, stems, and all,

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<v Speaker 1>which gave it nutty, bitter flavors in addition to the

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<v Speaker 1>bright fruit. The Italian name for this liqueur was marishino

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<v Speaker 1>so cherries preserved this way came to be called Maraschino cherries.

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<v Speaker 1>These cherries were very popular in cocktails and on desserts

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<v Speaker 1>and salads, but they were also an expensive luxury, so

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<v Speaker 1>companies started to make knockoffs using dyes and sugar. Food

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<v Speaker 1>scientists worked on different ways to preserve cherries more cheaply,

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<v Speaker 1>and on ways to preserve the firm texture of a

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<v Speaker 1>fresh cherry. A one's jarred with alcohol or lots of

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<v Speaker 1>sugar tend to go soft and sort of wrinkly. When

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<v Speaker 1>prohibition hit the United States in the early nineteen hundreds

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<v Speaker 1>and Maraschino liqueur was banned, a scientist out of Oregon

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<v Speaker 1>State University debuted a new process that keeps cherries almost

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<v Speaker 1>crisp in the jar with a few tweaks. It's the

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<v Speaker 1>process still used today. Of first, the harvested fruits are

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<v Speaker 1>soaked in two brine solutions instead of the traditional seawater.

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<v Speaker 1>The first brine is made with a mix of sodium metabisulfite,

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<v Speaker 1>citric acid, and calcium chloride, and then the second with

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<v Speaker 1>sodium chlorite and acidic acid. The cherries are soaked for

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<v Speaker 1>four to six weeks. This effectively erases their original flavor

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<v Speaker 1>in color. The cherries are then pitted and all of

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<v Speaker 1>the brine is washed out. Don't worry, none of it

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<v Speaker 1>remains in the final product, though it's still nasty stuff,

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<v Speaker 1>and disposing of it is apparently a huge environmental and

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<v Speaker 1>economic problem in the industry. At any rate, this process

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<v Speaker 1>leaves you with snowy white, flavorless, sugarless cherries, so you've

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<v Speaker 1>got a blank canvas. And next, the cherries are soaked

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<v Speaker 1>in a solution made up of sugar, syrup, food coloring,

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<v Speaker 1>and almond extract for another month or so. Cherries and

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<v Speaker 1>almonds are pretty closely related and both contain a flavor

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<v Speaker 1>compound called benzaldehyde. Almonds just contain more of it, which

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<v Speaker 1>is by almond extract is used as cherry flavoring. Finally,

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<v Speaker 1>the transformed cherries are bottled along with the syrup. The

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<v Speaker 1>jars are sealed and pasteurized. This process allows the jars

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<v Speaker 1>to be shelf stable for years, though they should be

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<v Speaker 1>refrigerated after they're opened. The result is a bright, semi

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<v Speaker 1>translucent cherry with a sweet lollipop flavor. They're usually red,

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<v Speaker 1>but can be made in other colors and other flavors too.

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<v Speaker 1>If you're curious about the original style of Marischino cherry.

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<v Speaker 1>You can still find similar products on the market today.

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<v Speaker 1>The Luxardo brand has been in the business of preserving

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<v Speaker 1>cherries since nineteen oh five. The World War Two destroyed

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<v Speaker 1>their original distillery and took the lives of several family members. However,

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<v Speaker 1>one Giorgio Luxardo escaped to northern Italy with a recipe

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<v Speaker 1>and a Morascus sapling, and after World War Two he

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<v Speaker 1>was able to restart the business. Today, they use a

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<v Speaker 1>syrup of sweetened cherry juice to preserve their product instead

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<v Speaker 1>of liqueur. You can even make your own by preserving

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<v Speaker 1>sour cherries and Marischino lakor or cherry syrup. The result

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<v Speaker 1>is a cherry that's dark red in color, a little

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<v Speaker 1>softer or even gummy leg in texture, and sweet tart

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<v Speaker 1>in flavor. Today's episode is based on the article you

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<v Speaker 1>Don't Want to Know How Marischino Cherries are made on

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<v Speaker 1>HowStuffWorks dot com, written by Leo Hoyt. The Brainstuff is

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