Dried Currants -- what the heck are they?

[Chris Hennes]

I'm making a recipe from Yotom Ottolenghi's Plenty this week, and in it he calls for "currants." From the recipe photo it's clear that he means "dried currants" here. We've discussed this in the past in various places and I can't really find a definitive answer, there is all manner of conflicting "facts." When a recipe calls for "dried currants" is it, in general, talking about "zante currants" e.g. the product made from grapes, not actual dried currants?

[JohnT]

Currants are simply dried zante or corinth grapes, which are small seedless black grapes. They tend not to absorb liquid and swell up and thus are often used in small baked goods. Raisins are made from larger grapes and sometimes contained seeds, depending on the grape variety used. They also absorb liquid after soaking - great after soaking in brandy! Sultanas are simply dried sultana grapes, very sweet and seedless. John.

[cakewalk]

What @JohnT said. It is confusing. Dried currants shouldn't be confused with redcurrants, which I believe are berries, not grapes. (But don't quote me.) I don't think redcurrants are usually dried. They're used for jellies a lot. I'm not sure where black currants fall in the scheme of things, if they're a version of redcurrants (berries) or if they're akin to dried currants (grapes). Ottolenghi should have been more specific.

[Anna N]

I do not think that Ottolenghi could be any more specific.  He is writing and working in the British Isles and few Brits would mistake currants for anything else.  

[liuzhou]

4 hours ago, Anna N said:

I do not think that Ottolenghi could be any more specific.  He is writing and working in the British Isles and few Brits would mistake currants for anything else.  

 

As a Briton, I concur. No one would be in any doubt. Small black dried grapes as opposed to raisins or sultanas.

 

We were all raised on currant cake (aka flies' graveyard) and currant buns.

Edited March 14, 2016 by liuzhou
typo - dried not fried! (log)

[Anna N]

47 minutes ago, liuzhou said:

 

As a Briton, I concur. No one would be in any doubt. Small black fried grapes as opposed to raisins or sultanas.

 

We were all raised on currant cake (aka flies' graveyard) and currant buns.

Currant scones immediately came to my mind!  

[Deryn]

As a Canadian I have no doubt what currants are either. I found them very hard to find in the southern US but can buy them even in this local co-op grocery in the boondocks in NS. Just bought some the other day as a matter of fact. Christmas cakes, scones, welshcakes, tea breads ... currants were a favorite staple in our house when I was young.

[cakewalk]

5 hours ago, Anna N said:

I do not think that Ottolenghi could be any more specific.  He is writing and working in the British Isles and few Brits would mistake currants for anything else.  

I disagree with this. Ottolenghi's books are not marketed for the British Isles exclusively. He has a big market outside the British Isles, and that was a goal. It's not by chance that his recipes have both volume and weight measures. He could definitely have been more specific. He just wasn't.

[joiei]

I have found dried currents at Whole Foods here.  But that was a while ago. 

Edited March 14, 2016 by joiei (log)

[JoNorvelleWalker]

Now I am totally confused.  Is a British currant a currant, or something else?

 

[liuzhou]

1 hour ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

Now I am totally confused.  Is a British currant a currant, or something else?

 

In British English a currant is a type of dried grape as mentioned up-thread.  This is the original meaning, dating to the 14th century and derived from the French 'raisins de Corauntz (Modern Corinth)'. They are "dried fruit prepared from a dwarf seedless variety of grape, grown in the Levant" OED

 

The use of the word "currant" to refer to redcurrants, blackcurrants etc. is a much later (17th C)  use of the word. to cover other plants and fruits.

 

"They were vulgarly believed at first to be the source of the Levantine currant; Lyte calls them ‘Bastarde Currant’, and both Gerarde and Parkinson protested against the error of calling them ‘currants’. "

 

So you could say, "Yes, British currants are currants. American currents aren't."

 

5 hours ago, cakewalk said:

I disagree with this. Ottolenghi's books are not marketed for the British Isles exclusively. He has a big market outside the British Isles, and that was a goal. It's not by chance that his recipes have both volume and weight measures. He could definitely have been more specific. He just wasn't.

 

All cookery writers write in the variety of English they are used to. How many American cookbooks, sold in the UK, include British English? I'd guess, none.

 

It is also worth remembering that, despite what many people assume, British/Commonwealth English is, by far, the most common variety used internationally. American English is the minority variety. Ottolenghi has nothing to apologise for, except his over-complicated recipes! 

Edited March 14, 2016 by liuzhou (log)

[Franci]

9 hours ago, cakewalk said:

I disagree with this. Ottolenghi's books are not marketed for the British Isles exclusively. He has a big market outside the British Isles, and that was a goal. It's not by chance that his recipes have both volume and weight measures. He could definitely have been more specific. He just wasn't.

 

His books that -I bought back in Europe- are just weights. I think his language is definitely more British but I never had doubts about his terms, maybe because I've lived there for some years. But the same goes for HF Whittngstall and N. Slater.

[cakewalk]

Well this has become silly.

 

Ottolenghi aside (who, IMO, should have been more specific), the OP is asking about dried currants/redcurrants in general.

 

"Currants" can refer to more than one thing. It doesn't matter which came first, that's absurd, it doesn't get you an exclusive claim to a word. British currants are currants. American currants are also currants. They each refer to a different item. And that is precisely why the term needs further clarification.

 

In the States, I usually see the terms "redcurrants" or "blackcurrants" for the berries, not just "currants," but that might differ for others. I don't think I've ever seen them dried, always fresh, and they're very seasonal. We used to get them every year when I belonged to a CSA, always at the very beginning of the summer.  So when I see a recipe that calls for "currants," I always assume it's the dried grapes. I'd be interested to know if anyone has seen dried redcurrants or blackcurrants, I'd love to try them.

[AlaMoi]

dried exist . . .

 

https://nwwildfoods.com/product/dried-black-currants/

http://driedredcurrants.com/

[liuzhou]

35 minutes ago, cakewalk said:

it doesn't get you an exclusive claim to a word

 

No one is trying to claim an exclusive use of a word. I was merely trying to explain the origin of the confusion. If that seems silly to you, then I am sorry.

 

And yes, dried red and blackcurrants aren't that unusual.

[Katie Meadow]

Just a very quick google search reveals that there isn't a lot of mystery or confusion about what is a currant, dried or otherwise. The dried currants we typically see in this country are known as zante currants. They are in fact grapes, very small grapes, aka champagne grapes (not to be confused with the grapes used to make sparkling wine in the Champagne region of France.) They were originally known as Corinth grapes, as noted above, but no one seems to call them that any more. In season we get fresh champagne grapes which are adorable and very sweet. When you buy dried currants to put in scones or granola they are really just tiny raisins make from these grapes.

 

Years ago when I was in New Mexico I lived in a house that had real currant bushes, both red and black. Both were delicious, but they are definitely a berry and grow on a bush rather than a vine. I can't remember the last time I saw them sold fresh or dried around here Perhaps the plant is more common in the UK, but they do grow here and they didn't seem to need any special attention. They were so so good. It could be they thrive with a lot of water. My bushes were right near an irrigation ditch which was regularly flooded during the growing season. 

[Beebs]

I've not seen dried red or black currants (the berry) around here.  However, currants (the grape) are absolutely crucial in a good Canadian butter tart! 

[Chris Hennes]

1 hour ago, Katie Meadow said:

Just a very quick google search reveals that there isn't a lot of mystery or confusion about what is a currant, dried or otherwise.

 

Well, the reason I posted here is because Google aside, there is in fact confusion at Amazon -- if you read the reviews of products sold as "dried currants" in the US version of Amazon.com, you will find a number of people complaining that what they get is not, in fact, a dried currant. As liuzhou points out above, they are wrong in the sense that a "currant" is in fact the thing they are getting in the bag, but correct in the sense that the fruit known as the currant is not being dried to obtain these things. This is exacerbated by unclear labeling from companies, which sometimes sell them as "black currants" even though they are not "blackcurrants"! So I started reading these reviews and thought "oh, it had never occurred to me that I might have been using the wrong thing all these years!" So of course I turned here to get clarification  

[Anna N]

 I have never heard currants (The tiny dried grape from Corinth) called "dried currants". They are not dried currants they are dried grapes and when the grapes are dried they are called currants. Words, words, words.  They are meant to communicate but often don't.

[andiesenji]

While most recipes call for "currants" and mean Zante currants or Corinth currants, I have come across a few recipes that call for "dried Blackcurrants - berries"  which I take to mean the real bush currants.  They are used sparingly, sprinkled over the top of single-crust fruit pies and custard pies.  The flavor is intense - similar to that of blackcurrant jam.  

 

However, I use most of them in TEA - I blend black tea with dried blackcurrants, herbs and (sparingly) spices.  

 

I buy them from Northwest Wild Foods (along with some other of their offerings of fruits I can't get for home drying - Lingonberries, Mulberries, Goldenberries)

 

For the "regular" currants made from the little grapes, I highly recommend Bob's Red Mill - much better than the supermarket boxed stuff.

[Thanks for the Crepes]

@Chris Hennes

 

Thank you for starting this thread. I don't think it was silly at all. I learned a lot here. I knew there were currant berries, and even had the red ones once at a nice Christmas luncheon for the employees where I worked. Anytime I ran across a recipe asking for currants, I just assumed, "Oh, we can't get those here," and moved on.

 

Now I know much more, so thanks, everyone. I even think @Teresaid something about planting some white currants in her English garden over in the Gardening thread. So I  eG, because I always learn a whack of stuff here everyday about a subject I love. I have never found shame or silliness in ignorance. To me the shame is in not being willing to learn or help others out with knowledge you may have that they are interested in.

[Lisa Shock]

Thanks! I knew that older recipes referred to the small dried grapes, but, about 5 years ago picked up some dried blackcurrants at Sprouts which I promptly ate as snacks. (I should have cooked something, but just didn't think of it.)  I wasn't certain about newer European recipes.

[Tere]

I have planted whitecurrants redcurrants and blackcurrants in the fruit cage, and I was reading Pille's blog Nami Nami recently and she even has a green variety. They are all very different from currants and they are all berries. I despise currants generally although I will put them in fruit cake etc. for my husband.

[liuzhou]

When I was a kid, many years ago, my grandparents had this huge magical garden. There was a moat to cross, then a small lawn / clothes drying area, then trees which were for climbing and filching apples, peaches, pears, then the bush fruit garden. Raspberries, blackcurrants, redcurrants, blackberries and more. Then, as you moved further away from the house, a wild area left to nature. I spent many a happy summer lost in that garden. Stuffed and stained with berries.

 

Currants were something else.

 

 

Edited March 15, 2016 by liuzhou (log)

[AlaMoi]

perhaps more than you may ever have wanted tot know . . .  from cornell.edu  ag info...

 

Red currants (Ribes rubrum, R. sativum and R. petraeum): Fruits range in color from dark red to pink, yellow, white and beige, and they continue to sweeten on the bush even after they appear to be in full color. ....

 

White currants: A type of red currant, white currant cultivars are sold less frequently by nurseries.

Black currants (Ribes nigrum)
and their cousin

 

Gooseberries: There are two types of gooseberry plants -- American (Ribes hirtellum) and European (Ribes uva-crispa)

 

it was illegal to grow these in the US because
/quote
In the early 1900s, the federal and state governments outlawed the growing of currants and gooseberries to prevent the spread white pine blister rust (Cronartium ribicola). This fungal disease attacks both Ribes and white pines, which must live in close proximity for the blister rust fungus to complete its life cycle.
/unquote
in the 1960's that ban has was relaxed in certain areas and/or for certain varieties, etc....

 

from Wiki:
"The blackcurrant (Ribes nigrum) is a woody shrub in the family Grossulariaceae grown for its piquant berries. It is native to temperate parts of central and northern Europe and northern Asia ..."

"The redcurrant or red currant (Ribes rubrum) is a member of the genus Ribes in the gooseberry family. It is native to parts of western Europe (Belgium, Great Britain, France, Norway, Sweden, Germany, Netherlands, northern Italy, northern Spain, Portugal and Poland). The species is widely cultivated and has escaped into the wild in many regions"

 

the theory cooks in UK would only refer to the zante as a "currant" appears to be busted....

 

Chris did not say which dish he was preparing - other than it's from a vegetarian cookbook (right?) - and it occurs to me that:

zante aka grape currants are used extensive in baked goods
while
berry currant are more in the confecture / sauce arena.

.... in a vegetable dish, it right well could have been a berry currant.

 

as for the zante aka grape currant:
(again, Wiki)
"In the 14th century, they were sold in the English market under the label Reysyns de Corauntz, and the name raisins of Corinth was recorded in the 15th century,"

apparently, currants of every sort have co-existed in northern European cooking for a long time . . .

 

zante currants were one presumed imported to the USA food scene fairly early, since:
"The first attempts to introduce the Black Corinth cultivar in the United States date back to 1854. The first successful vineyards of White and Red Corinth (related varieties), were established in California in 1861 by Colonel Agoston Haraszthy. Around 1901, David Fairchild of USDA imported high-quality black currant cuttings from the Greek village of Panariti, a renowned producer, and established the first commercial crops."