Maraschino

Maraschino has its own category in European Regulation 2019/787 for spirit drinks: category 37, 'Maraschino, marrasquino or maraskino'. The requirements are stricter than for ordinary liqueur.

Maraschino must contain at least 24 percent alcohol, compared with 15 percent for liqueur in general. The minimum amount of sweetener is 250 grams per litre, expressed as invert sugar; for most other liqueurs it is 100 grams. Adding colouring is not permitted. On the label, the legal name may be supplemented with the word 'liqueur'. The same rules apply to flavourings as for liqueur.

Yes. Marasquin is the French name for the same drink. French liqueur makers put that name on the label. Giffard, for example, sells the bottle in France as 'Liqueur de Marasquin' and internationally as Maraschino Liqueur, with 25 percent alcohol. Cartron also uses the name marasquin.

Anyone searching for marasquin likeur, likeur marasquin or maraschino liqueur therefore always means the same category. European law only names the spellings maraschino, marrasquino and maraskino. A French bottle falls under the same requirements.

Maraschino comes from Dalmatia, on the Croatian coast, where the marasca grows: a small, dark cherry with sour, bittersweet juice. According to Luxardo, a 'rosolio maraschino' had been made there since the Middle Ages. Girolamo Luxardo settled in Zara, present-day Zadar, in 1817 and founded his distillery there in 1821.

Bombings in 1943 and 1944 largely destroyed the distillery. In 1947 Giorgio Luxardo and Nicolò III started again in Torreglia, near Padua, at the foot of the Euganean hills. The company is still in the hands of the family. Luxardo lets the cherries steep with leaves and twigs for up to three years in larch vats, distils in copper stills and ages the middle cut in ash wood casks, after which sugar syrup brings the liqueur to 32 percent.

Maraschino is above all an ingredient. In classic cocktails it is about small quantities. The Aviation consists of gin, maraschino, crème de violette and lemon juice. The Last Word mixes gin, maraschino, green Chartreuse and lime juice in equal parts. The Martinez, the Tuxedo No. 2, the Brooklyn, the Brandy Crusta and the Hemingway Daiquiri also use maraschino. In the late nineteenth century a cocktail often got the prefix 'improved' if a dash of maraschino went into it.

In the kitchen maraschino is used over fresh fruit such as strawberries, pineapple and orange, and as a flavouring in pastries, desserts and ice cream. Small kitchen bottles exist for that purpose too.

Maraschino cherries are not a liqueur but cocktail cherries in syrup. The name refers to the old habit of preserving cherries in maraschino. The American food authority FDA describes maraschino cherries as cherries that have been dyed red, soaked in sugar and packed in a sugar syrup with bitter almond flavour or a similar flavour.

There are also candied maraschino cherries in cherry syrup. Luxardo makes these without thickener or preservative, with a natural red colour. If you are looking for the liqueur, look for the word maraschino or marasquin on a bottle of at least 24 percent alcohol.

The shop stocks bottles from Luxardo, Bols, Giffard and Cartron. That puts the Italian origin, a Dutch maraschino and the French marasquin side by side: Luxardo Maraschino, Bols Maraschino, Giffard Maraschino and Cartron Marasquin.

For those who mainly use maraschino in the kitchen, there is the Cuisine Keukenflesje Marasquin, a small cooking bottle for pastry and desserts. If you are unsure which bottle suits a cocktail or recipe, call the shop or drop by at Brink 2 in Bathmen.

The shop is at Brink 2 in Bathmen. Open Tuesday to Friday from 09.00 to 18.00 and Saturday from 09.00 to 17.00. For advice, call 0570 541 278 or email info@bockje.nl.