[Sca-cooks] maraschino cherries

[Stefan li Rous]

Thank you, Bear!

I guess I should learn to do more quick Wikipedia searches.  But it  
never occurred to me that "maraschino" cherries would have *any*  
chance of being period. It is hard enough to document any specific  
period cordials, but here is one. As well as evidence for  
preservation of at least one fruit in period in distilled alcohol.

Was wine or other non-distilled alcohol used as a preservative in  
period as well?  I'm assuming it wouldn't be quite as good a  
preservative as a higher proof alcohol would be, though.

Further reading of the Wikipedia article does indicate that the stuff  
you get in the grocery store, labeled as "maraschino" cherries has  
little resemblance to the real thing, being saturated in red food  
coloring and having almond flavoring added. I wonder if "real"  
marachino cherries are still available and at what price. Once I'm  
employed again, perhaps I'm going to have to get some so I can  
compare these to what I thought were marashino cherries.

Stefan

============
<<< But where is the documentation on the "maraschino cherry"?
Stefan >>>

Maraschino is a cordial made from the pits of marasca cherries.   
Maraschino
cherries are cherries that have been preserved in the cordial.  The  
presence
of the cordial was presumably first noted at the Zadar Dominican  
monastery
early in the 16th Century.  One of the uses for the cordial was  
preserving
marasca cherries.  Large scale commercial production of maraschino is an
artifact of the 18th Century and commercial maraschino cherry production
appears to be primarily 19th Century.  The modern maraschino cherry was
"Americanized" in the early 20th Century.

Bear
--------
THLord Stefan li Rous    Barony of Bryn Gwlad    Kingdom of Ansteorra
    Mark S. Harris           Austin, Texas           
StefanliRous at austin.rr.com
**** See Stefan's Florilegium files at:  http://www.florilegium.org ****