Raisins in the Sun

[russ parsons]

sorry, my reply was inexact. i was referring to the terminology, not the product. and it was skewed by just having answered a question from a reader who just moved from britain.

yes: sultanas are golden thompson seedless raisins. but in the us, we call them golden raisins rather than sultanas.

organic golden raisins, in this country, can have been treated with giberellic acid, which was the process that was specifically being asked about. as i understand it, this is not a permitted organic practice in the uk.

to expand on that a little further, grape vines are also girdled to promote larger berry size (remove a strip of bark around the circumference of the rootstock). there is a very small amount of grapes that are marketed as "naturals" (usually at farmers markets), which have not been gibbed or girdled. these are exceedingly rare.

[fiftydollars]

So sultanas aren't simply golden raisins which aren't simply dried green grapes? What about organic golden raisins?

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I belive that organic golden raisins are also sulfurated.

[Pan]

So sultanas aren't simply golden raisins which aren't simply dried green grapes? What about organic golden raisins?

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I belive that organic golden raisins are also sulfurated.

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That would surprise me. Sulfur dioxide isn't considered an organic chemical in any sense, is it? Besides, the organic raisins I get don't have any sulfur dioxide as an ingredient; they're raisins, period, and nothing else.

For the record, I hate sulfur dioxide; it hurts my throat.

Edited September 27, 2005 by Pan (log)

[russ parsons]

good question: one i had to call the california raising marketing board to get the answer on. no, sulfur dioxide is not an organic treatment, so there is no organic golden raisin (standards may vary in other countries).

[Pan]

Interesting. Yeah, the organic raisins I get are always dark ones.

Why aren't organic farmers producing organic golden raisins?

[russ parsons]

to keep the raisins golden during drying, they need to be sprayed with sulfur dioxide to prevent the oxidation that would turn them black. sulfur dioxide is not organic ...

[Adam Balic]

we don't have sultanas, but probably 95% or more of the raisins sold in the us are thompson seedless, whether they're black or golden (treated with sulfur and machine-dried). at farmers markets in california, it is common to find flame grapes. it is less common to find muscat grapes, but it can be done. these have remarkable flowery flavor, but do have seeds, which most Americans find distasteful.

i don't recall seeing raisins marketed differently depending on whether the grapes were "gibbed" (treated with gibberellic acid, a naturally occurring plant growth regular--most products are approved for organic use in this country--which increases grape size).

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Sorry I should be more clear, occassionally you see fresh table grapes labeled as Thompson seedless or sultana to distinguish them.

RE: drying golden sultanas. Grapes have a waxy layer that reduces the efficiency of drying, originally (in Australia) this was removed mechanically (the wax was highly prized as furniture polish), now they are sufactant treated, which in effect makes the wax barrier useless for retaining water. This means a quicker drying process and a 'better' colour.

I prefer the SO2-less dried fruit, especially apricots. They may not look as pretty, but the flavour is better.

What a pity you don't get a broader range of dried grapes in the USA (surely in Middle-eastern stores?). Muscatel grapes dried on the stem at Christmas are a real treat. If you soak them an brandy for a minute, then light them you can play "snapdragon", which basically means grabbing and gobbling as many soft, smokey-sweet, musky raisins as possible..

[anzu]

I don't think anyone answered Abra's query about how long the raisins will last seeing as no sulfur dioxide was used?

I understand that the sulfur dioxide might preserve some vitamin C and A, but it's use is primarily cosmetic. So if the raisins are fully dried, there shouldn't be any problem

Here's another way to dry raisins:

Years back, I spent some time in the town of Turfan, in North-western China. The town is situated in the middle of a rocky desert, and water is brought in traditional underground channels from the snow-capped Tianshan mountains that can be seen far off in the distance. The main industry of the town was raisin production. In fact, grapes were all over the town: grown up high so as to cover the streets and adjoining sidewalks. This gave welcome respite from the sun, as well as being a means of obtaining more growing space. There were signs along the road asking people not to pick the grapes as they were not public property.

The grapes were dried in special structures built for that purpose alone. These structures were square in shape, made from brick and about three stories high. They were open at the top to allow evaporated moisture to escape easily, and had numerous holes built into the sides of the structure so that fresh air could easily enter. Turfan is extremely hot in summer (average temperature well over 40C, about 115F,) and the structure being heated in the sun was sufficient to dry out the grapes. Essentially, I suppose, they were functioning like giant ovens, with good air circulation ensured due to the holes.

I'd love to know if this was a structure unique to that area, or if it's found in other regions as well. Ethnically, the people in Turfan are mostly Uyghur, so I'm wondering in particular if similar drying methods are employed in neighbouring regions with a similar culture, such as Uzbekistan.

[russ parsons]

wow, great post anzu, i've never heard of that.

as far as adam's question about muscat raisins on the stem--that is also a california tradition (probably borrowed), but it is so scarce that i've only seen it offered once or twice in the last 20 years. maybe if i lived in fresno or bakersfield i'd see it more often.

as far as the question about why the lack of variety of grapes .... that goes to the whole paradox of california agriculture: for most of this century it has been set up to supply the most product for the least cost. only in the last 10 years or so has it begun to shift slowly, thanks largely to farmers markets, where growers can actually get paid a premium for good quality products--something that is almost impossible in the traditional flow of commodity agriculture. hey, somebody ought to write a book about that.

[jayt90]

Sometimes I can find large muscat raisins from Turkey in a bulk food store. Haven't seen them recently, but they were nicely scented like any muscat grape, and full of tiny seeds. Flattened, they were as large as a quarter. Has anyone else found these?

[andiesenji]

I dry the red flame grapes which are a seedless variety and also the seedless black grapes and the Thompson's seedless, however my favorites are the red flame seedless.

I try to get the sweetest grapes I can find, as the sweeter and more flavorful the grape, the sweeter the raisin, sometimes there is so much sugar that it actually crystallized on the outside of the raisins.

I have two large Excalibur dehydrators which hold a lot of fruit and work beautifully with most fruit. I have tried several and these are the best.

Excalibur dehydrator

A few fruits need a little help. Cranberries will not dry well unless they are first placed in a very light sugar water at the boil for just 4 or 5 minutes - as soon as some begin to pop they are ready to be drained and spread on the trays for drying.

Some fruits take longer to dry than others. Large grapes take 4 or 5 days or longer in the dehydrator here - I live in the desert and humidity is low. In a higher humidity climate it will take longer.

Blueberries dry nicely and are very sweet and you can even use the frozen ones.

I also dry tomato slices or cherry tomatoes cut in half. Roma tomatoes (or similar paste tomatoes), if they are not too large, can simply be cut in half lengthwise.

Mango needs to be sliced less than 1/2 inch thick, same with papaya and pineapple.

For any fruit, having even slices works better than cutting them in wedges.

I use a hand-cranked apple peeler/corer/slicer which slices the apples in a spiral. When you cut the stack in half you get even slices.

You can do the same thing by halving a fruit, removing the core laying it with the cut side down and cutting parallel slices across the fruit, working from top to bottom.

My home-dried raisins taste better than any commercial dried fruits, with one exception - Trader Joes has some dried fruits that are just as good, and sometimes better.

I have never seen any commercially dried Kiwi fruit but the slices dry nicely -

and for peeling them - try dipping them in boiling water for 30 seconds and see how easily and cleanly they peel.

I don't use any of the sulfite preservatives but do rinse the fruits that are subject to oxidiation (apples, peaches, etc.) with a solution of citric acid.

You can use vitamin C powder or you can find "sour salt" in kosher sections of many markets.

I also use the dehydrator to make some really terrific jerky.

Edited September 29, 2005 by andiesenji (log)

[Abra]

Well, I have to say that making raisins in a cluster was disappointing. It sounds beautiful, but looks like this

I wonder whether I did something wrong, or whether the effect depends on the type of grapes one uses.