From The Food Encyclopedia by Jacques Rolland and Carol Sherman
A cherry macerated in sugar syrup, almond oil and sometimes alcohol, used as a garnish for desserts and cocktails. Historically, only the small European wild Marasca cherries from Croatia's Dalmatian area and parts of Italy that had been preserved in maraschino liqueur could be labeled as a maraschino cherry. Eventually, by the turn of the century in the U.S., the cherries were made with the Royal Ann variety and came to mean a cherry that had been dyed red, marinated in sugar syrup with almond oil and the alcohol eliminated.
