Dried vine fruit

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Dried vine fruit is a term given to all the varieties of dried grape produced. The need for this term came from the fact that the United Kingdom is the only country in the European Union which differentiates dried vine fruit into different types. On mainland Europe, they are all simply called raisins, whereas in the UK they are differentiated into raisins, sultanas and currants. [1] In this instance the term currant refers to the Zante currant, not the fruit of the Ribes genus.

California Seedless Grape Raisins on the left and California Zante Currants on the right along with a metric ruler for scale. Grape Rasins plus Zante Currants.jpg
California Seedless Grape Raisins on the left and California Zante Currants on the right along with a metric ruler for scale.

The sultana was brought to Europe from the Ottoman Empire, and is known for its golden colour and delicate, sweet flavour.

"Golden raisins" are a Californian attempt to replicate the sultana industrially. They are made from the same variety (sultana=Thompson Seedless), treated with sulfur dioxide (SO2), and flame dried to give them their characteristic colour.

A particular variety of seedless grape, the Black Corinth, is also sun dried to produce Zante currants, which are much smaller than other vine fruit, darker in colour and have a tart, tangy flavour.

Several varieties of raisins are produced in Asia and are only available at ethnic grocers. Green raisins are produced in Iran. Dried grapes in a variety of colors (green, black, white) and sizes are also produced in India.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grape</span> Fruit growing on woody vines in clusters

A grape is a fruit, botanically a berry, of the deciduous woody vines of the flowering plant genus Vitis. Grapes are a non-climacteric type of fruit, generally occurring in clusters.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cabernet Sauvignon</span> Red-wine variety of grape

Cabernet Sauvignon is one of the world's most widely recognized red wine grape varieties. It is grown in nearly every major wine producing country among a diverse spectrum of climates from Australia and British Columbia, Canada to Lebanon's Beqaa Valley. Cabernet Sauvignon became internationally recognized through its prominence in Bordeaux wines, where it is often blended with Merlot and Cabernet Franc. From France and Spain, the grape spread across Europe and to the New World where it found new homes in places like California's Napa Valley, New Zealand's Hawke's Bay, South Africa's Stellenbosch region, Australia's Margaret River, McLaren Vale and Coonawarra regions, and Chile's Maipo Valley and Colchagua. For most of the 20th century, it was the world's most widely planted premium red wine grape until it was surpassed by Merlot in the 1990s. However, by 2015, Cabernet Sauvignon had once again become the most widely planted wine grape, with a total of 341,000 hectares (3,410 km2) under vine worldwide.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Raisin</span> Dark-colored dried large grape

A raisin is a dried grape. Raisins are produced in many regions of the world and may be eaten raw or used in cooking, baking, and brewing. In the United Kingdom, Ireland, New Zealand, Australia and South Africa, the word raisin is reserved for the dark-colored dried large grape, with sultana being a golden-colored dried grape, and currant being a dried small Black Corinth seedless grape.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zante currant</span> Variety of grape

Zante currants, Corinth raisins, Corinthian raisins or outside the United States simply currants, are raisins of the small, sweet, seedless grape cultivar Black Corinth. The name comes from the Anglo-French phrase "raisins de Corinthe" and the Ionian island of Zakynthos (Zante), which was once the major producer and exporter. It is not related to black, red or white currants, which are berries of shrubs in the genus Ribes and not usually prepared in dried form.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Table grape</span> Grapes intended for consumption while fresh

Table grapes are grapes intended for consumption while fresh, as opposed to grapes grown for wine production, juice production, or for drying into raisins.

<i>Vitis vinifera</i> Species of flowering plant in the grape vine family Vitaceae

Vitis vinifera, the common grape vine, is a species of flowering plant, native to the Mediterranean region, Central Europe, and southwestern Asia, from Morocco and Portugal north to southern Germany and east to northern Iran. There are currently between 5,000 and 10,000 varieties of Vitis vinifera grapes though only a few are of commercial significance for wine and table grape production.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Muscat (grape)</span> Variety of grape

The Muscat family of grapes includes over 200 grape varieties belonging to the Vitis vinifera species that have been used in wine production and as raisin and table grapes around the globe for many centuries. Their colors range from white, to yellow, to pink to near black. Muscat grapes and wines almost always have a pronounced floral aroma. The breadth and number of varieties of Muscat suggest that it is perhaps the oldest domesticated grape variety, and there are theories that most families within the Vitis vinifera grape variety are descended from the Muscat variety.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">White wine</span> Wine fermented without skin contact

White wine is a wine that is fermented without skin contact. The colour can be straw-yellow, yellow-green, or yellow-gold. It is produced by the alcoholic fermentation of the non-coloured pulp of grapes, which may have a skin of any colour. White wine has existed for at least 4,000 years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mincemeat</span> Mixture of dried fruit, spices, and fat

Mincemeat is a mixture of chopped dried fruit, distilled spirits and spices, and often beef suet, usually used as a pie or pastry filling. Mincemeat formerly contained meat, notably beef or venison. Many modern recipes replace the suet with vegetable shortening. Mincemeat is found in the Anglosphere.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sémillon</span> Variety of grape

Sémillon is a golden-skinned grape used to make dry and sweet white wines, mostly in France and Australia. Its thin skin and susceptibility to botrytis make it dominate the sweet wine region Sauternes AOC and Barsac AOC.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sultana (grape)</span> "white" (pale green), oval seedless grape variety

The sultana is a "white", oval seedless grape variety also called the sultanina, Thompson Seedless, Lady de Coverly (England), and oval-fruited Kishmish. It is also known as İzmir üzümü in Turkey since this variety has been extensively grown in the region around İzmir. It is assumed to originate from Asia Minor, which later became part of the Ottoman Empire.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Christmas cake</span> Baked sweet food served during Christmas

Christmas cake is a type of cake, often fruitcake, served at Christmas time in many countries.

Uhudler is a wine from Südburgenland, Austria,. In appearance it is often a rosé colour, but is also made as a white wine. It has intense flavours of strawberry and black currants, a characteristic taste often called "foxy" in wine parlance. The grape varieties used are highly resistant to phylloxera and other diseases; as a result they do not often have to be sprayed with pesticides. Requiring only little fertilization.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Saffron bun</span> Sweet bun flavoured with saffron

A saffron bun, Cornishtea treat bun or revel bun, is a rich, spiced yeast-leavened sweet bun that is flavoured with saffron and contains dried fruit including currants and raisins similar to a teacake. The main ingredients are plain flour, butter, yeast, caster sugar, currants and sultanas. Larger versions baked in a loaf tin are known as saffron cake.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Straw wine</span> Wine made from dried grapes

Straw wine, or raisin wine, is a wine made from grapes that have been dried off the vine to concentrate their juice. Under the classic method, after a careful hand harvest, selected bunches of ripe grapes will be laid out on mats in full sun.. This drying will probably be done on well exposed terraces somewhere near the wine press and the drying process will take around a week or longer. Small scale productions were laid out on flat roofs; however, if this still happens, it is extremely rare nowadays.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">White currant</span> Cultivars of Ribes rubrum, a species of flowering plant in the gooseberry family Grossulariaceae

The white currant or whitecurrant is a group of cultivars of the red currant, a species of flowering plant in the family Grossulariaceae, native to Europe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thomcord</span> Grape varietal

Thomcord is a seedless table grape variety and a hybrid of the popular Thompson Seedless or Sultanina grape and Concord grape. Thomcord was developed in 1983 by Californian grape breeders working for the Agricultural Research Service (ARS), an agency of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), as part of a test to better understand a new seedless grape breeding procedure.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fruit production in Iran</span>

Iran ranks 1st in fruit production in the Middle East and North Africa. Iran has been ranked between 8th and 10th in global fruit production in different years. Iran produces Persian walnut, melon, tangerine, citrus fruits, Kiwifruit, dates, cherries, pomegranates, peach, oranges, raisins, saffron, grapes, Apricot, Pitted Prune and watermelon.

References

  1. "The Difference between Raisins, Sultanas and Currants". Archived from the original on 12 July 2014. Retrieved 28 August 2014.