I like raw cherries.
I like cherry pie.
I cannot stand the sickly-sweet-candy flavor of maraschino cherries. Is this even the same fruit?!
And I cannot stand cherry-vanilla ice cream, Cherry Coke, etc., etc., because cherry-flavor in anything but a pie always tastes more like a maraschino cherry than a raw one. Why is that?!
Yes, after the cherries have been processed.
Cherry-vanilla ice cream traditionally uses maraschinos.
Have you tried “real” maraschino cherries? I can’t stand the ubiquitous electric red ones that come in most cocktails/sundaes. These, however, I love.
Not really, no. Pie cherries are sour cherries, while the ones you eat out of hand are sweet cherries.
I will take the rainiers, you can have the rest.
I’ll take your maraschinos if you don’t want them. Love those things, but probably shouldn’t admit that!
Not entirely. Maraschinos get a lot of their flavor from the grenadine syrup they’re packed in, which in turn is made from pomegranates.
But hey, if you don’t want them, more for me.
Maraschino cherries were originally packed in maraschino liqueur, which is made from marasca cherries. Most maraschinos today are packed in artificially colored sugar syrup. I don’t think I’ve ever seen maraschinos packed in grenadine.
Cherry pies are usually made from sour varieties such as Montmorency. Apart from the sourness, these have a different flavor from sweet varieties such as Bing and Ranier. Sour cherries are also used in things like Black Forest cake. Fresh sour cherries don’t show up in grocery stores or produce markets very often (at least around here), but you will sometimes find canned or frozen ones. I have seen dried and freeze-dried sour cherries for sale at Trader Joe’s.
+1
Luxardos are divine. Try some in a rye Manhattan, and you will be a believer.
I’m not a fan of fresh cherries, but if you bring a bag of dried Montmorency cherries to my house, prepare to see a knife fight amongst us all for it!
I’ve had it before, but it wasn’t really until the other week I realised that kriek lambic beer is very refreshing on a warm summer’s day.
Well, yeah, I thought that went without saying-- Everything nowadays is artificial. But I thought that the artificial stuff was at least meant to mimic grenadine?
I’m pretty sure the artificial stuff is meant to mimic cherry liqueur, since that’s what “real” maraschinos are made with.
According to the FDA, since 1940, maraschino cherries have been flavored with extract of bitter almonds or similar flavor:
a ha! That’s why I don’t like “regular” maraschino cherries. I hate almond flavoring and anything made from almonds. Almonds straight up I like, but not anything made from them and certainly not extracts. Ugh.
I am totally with you on this; well, except that I am not sure I have ever had cherry pie. I may have avoided it because I assumed it would taste like “cherry flavored” stuff rather than like fresh, raw cherries. But yes, fresh cherries are very good, but maraschino cherries and a fortiori anything purportedly “cherry flavored” (I have always assumed it was some artificial, chemical flavor, not from real cherries) are thoroughly gross.
It’s the same thing with “strawberry, grape or orange” ice cream, soda or candy. Very rarely can you find something that is made of and tastes like the real deal.
I did have an absolutely splendid waffle cone the other day made with very rich yoghurt and sour cherries. Apparently it isn’t a big seller as I went back and they didn’t have it anymore.
Or maybe others took the risk and it got eaten up really fast? I hope so.
And Green & Black’s makes a delightful dark chocolate bar with dried sour cherries in it that is also hard to find.
Fake banana flavoring in candy like taffy is better than real banana flavor.
a cobbler or bars are also nice.
Cherry pie can taste like either real cherries or like artificial cherry flavor. Canned filling is more likely to have the artificial taste, but I’ve known folks who pick the cherries themselves and make pies out of them.
And yes, real and artificial cherry definitely taste different, but I like them both.
And what’s with the “cherry” flavoured cough medicine? That stuff bears no resemblance in any way to the taste of cherries. Putrid, vile stuff.