Is a Maraschino Cherry a Real Cherry

Summary Today’s maraschino cherries are regular cherries that have undergone a major transformation. They’re preserved, bleached, dyed, and sweetened with sugar.

What makes a cherry maraschino?

Since 1940, “maraschino cherries” have been defined as “cherries which have been dyed red, impregnated with sugar, and packed in a sugar syrup flavored with oil of bitter almonds or a similar flavor.”

Why is it called a maraschino cherry?

Its ancestry, though, traces back to 1905, when black Marasca cherries, preserved in a sugar-sweetened liqueur, were introduced by the Luxardo distillery in Croatia. The spirit, christened “maraschino,” was distilled from a fermented mix of cherries, pits, leaves and stems, hence the name of the cherry bathed in it.