Cocktail cherry
The cocktail cherry or evidence cherry - in English maraschino cherry , so as borrowing in the German and maraschino cherry - is an inlaid cherry. Originally developed as a garnish for cocktails , it is now used as a garnish for all types of dishes. Originally, these were Marasca cherries that were pickled in Maraschino , but now more widely used are industrially manufactured cherries pickled in malt sugar and processed with coloring and flavoring substances.
Origins
The original cocktail cherries came from Croatia from the Zadar area . The Marasca cherries grown there are comparatively small, hard sour cherries from which the maraschino liqueur is also made. Since the 17th century at the latest, maraska cherries were first washed in salt water and then placed in maraschino, leaves and ground cherry stones. A significantly cheaper manufacturing process that worked with sugar and colorants came from France. Both variants reached the USA as a luxury import at the end of the 19th century and were widely used there. At the same time, cherries that had been preserved but not yet processed came from Europe to the USA and were processed there. Often these were flavored with almonds or vanilla. Prunus avium cherries grown in the USA were considered too soft and mushy to survive processing into cocktail cherries at the time. The Maraska cherries did not grow in the USA, their cultivation is still limited to the coastal regions on the Adriatic Sea in Croatia, Slovenia and Northern Italy .
Distribution in the USA
Cherries pickled in maraschino liqueur found their way into cocktails at the end of the 19th century. Until then, cocktails were mainly garnished with fresh fruit, but at the end of the 19th century a trend towards pickled fruit developed. These have the advantage for the bars that they have a much longer shelf life, i.e. they are independent of the season. In addition to the cocktail cherry, it has also become customary to decorate cocktails with olives or pickled hazelnuts or walnuts.
The cherries spread across the United States around the turn of the century. Production there was still largely unregulated and unknown. In the first years of the 20th century, a public discussion about cherries was sparked, which was aimed at the production, which is sometimes hazardous to health and with toxic substances. In 1912 the Board of Food and Drug Inspection (a predecessor of the Food and Drug Administration ) published a guide that showed the difference between real maraschino pickled cherries and the numerous imitators. He also stipulated that only cherries with maraschino liqueur have been preserved, as maraschino cherries could be sold. However, the scandals did not result in the cherries becoming less popular.
Development of modern industrial production
The cherry producers in the USA wanted to enter this market as well. There was particular interest in the state of Oregon , which had large orchards. Ernest Wiegand , a professor at Oregon Agricultural College (now Oregon State University ), who discovered that American cherries shriveled up when soaked in alcohol and no longer looked attractive, is considered to be the inventor of the modern cocktail cherry. However, he also discovered that the addition of calcium salts to the liquid preserved the fruit in its original form. While Wiegand developed a process to preserve the cherries for a long time, the actual development of today's cocktail cherry with the addition of coloring and flavoring substances took place in the laboratories of grocers on the US east coast.
The cherries, which are preserved in sugar and provided with coloring and flavoring, owe their dominant market position to the strengthening of the abstinence movement in the USA. The teetotalers fought, among other things, against alcoholic snacks and sweets. Together with the producers of the alcohol-free cocktail cherries, they undertook campaigns for the alcohol-free local and against the foreign cherry soaked in alcohol. With the introduction of the alcohol ban , they disappeared completely from the market between 1919 and 1933. In the 1940s, the authorities took the changed mood of the public into account and allowed any pickled and treated cherries to be sold as maraschino cherries.
Industrial manufacture
In the USA, industrially manufactured cocktail cherries are mainly made from the Great Princess variety . The cherry is harvested ripe, but not overripe. The cherries are pitted and then marinated in brine. The syrup contains 0.7-1.5% sulfur dioxide and 0.4-1% calcium carbonate . Its pH is between 2.5 and 3.5. The process takes place at cool temperatures and takes four to six weeks. In the meantime, the cherries are bleached so that they completely lose their color, then they are further pickled. By pickling them, they lose both their cherry flavor and color. The process is similar to treating other cherries before further processing. The cherries are then washed thoroughly for about one to two days to reduce the sulfur dioxide content, then cooked in dye and left in this for a few days so that it permeates the whole fruit. A little citric acid is added to the coloring agent , which prevents the cherries from losing their color. Finally, the cherries are soaked in maltose syrup. Erythrosine (E127) or Allura red AC (E129) are often used as coloring agents. In Europe, erythrosine may only be used for the production of cocktail cherries, cherries pickled in syrup and candied cherries.
The most important manufacturer of traditionally made cocktail cherries preserved in alcohol is the Italian spirits manufacturer Girolamo Luxardo . In many bars, however, the bartenders also make their own cocktail cherries.
Trivia
One of the largest producers of cocktail cherries in the US is Brooklyn- based Dell's, which produced about a billion cherries in 2009 - about a third of US production. This company made headlines around the world because a large marijuana production facility was located below the factory floor. A raid took place there in February 2015, originally to investigate allegations that the company was discharging sewage and cherry syrup into the sewer system. During the raid, the police noticed the smell of marijuana, the owner apologized and shot himself in a bathroom in the factory. The company was fined $ 1.2 million.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Amy Stewart: The Drunken Botanist Algonquin Books 2013 ISBN 978-1-61620-046-6 p. 271
- ↑ a b c Melanie Rehak: Who Made that Maraschino Cherry in: New York Times Magazine, September 19, 2014
- ^ David Wondrich: Imbibe , Penguin November 2007 ISBN 978-0-399-53287-0
- ↑ David Wondrich: Imbibe , Penguin November 2007 ISBN 978-0-399-53287-0 p. 53
- ↑ Ronald E. Wrolstad: [Maraschino Cherry: A Laboratory-Lecture Unit http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1541-4329.2008.00065.x/pdf ] Journal of Food Science Education, Vl. 8 Eat. 1, December 22, 2008
- ↑ Amy Stewart: The Drunken Botanist Algonquin Books 2013 ISBN 978-1-61620-046-6 p. 272
- ↑ Andrew Mariana: Cherries . In: Andrew F. Smith: The Oxford Encyclopedia of Food and Drink in America. New York 2004.
- ↑ Cherry in Douglas M. Considine (ed.): Foods and Food Production Encyclopedia , Springer Science & Business Media, 2012 ISBN 1468485113
- ^ Johannes Friedrich Diehl: Chemistry in Food: Residues, Impurities, Ingredients and Additives , John Wiley & Sons, 2012 ISBN 3527660844
- ↑ Made in NYC | Maraschino Cherries , The New York Times March 31, 2009
- ↑ Victoria Cavaliere: New York cherry company pleads guilty to marijuana, environmental charges , Reuters, September 23, 2015