{"id":1862,"date":"2014-12-17T09:00:34","date_gmt":"2014-12-17T09:00:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.reading.ac.uk\/crg\/?p=1862"},"modified":"2014-12-17T09:00:34","modified_gmt":"2014-12-17T09:00:34","slug":"2014-advent-botany-day-17-raisins-currants-sultanas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/herbarium\/2014\/12\/17\/2014-advent-botany-day-17-raisins-currants-sultanas\/","title":{"rendered":"2014 Advent Botany – Day 17 – Raisins, Currants & Sultanas"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"The<\/a>
The Favourite Sultana by Etienne Jeaurat<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Clearly the most key link between preserved dried grapes and Christmas is their use in Christmas cake, Christmas Pudding and sweet mincemeat for mince pies.\u00a0 These are all based heavily on dried grapes but with additional flavourings of spices, citrus fruits and almonds.\u00a0 While we are very familiar with Raisins, Sultanas and Currants have you spared a thought on how they got their names?<\/p>\n

\u00c9tienne Jeaurat painted The Favourite Sultana<\/em> without including a single dried fruit.\u00a0 However, in many English speaking countries, the word sultana is now more often used to refer to a pale seedless dried grape than it is used for the wife of a sultan.\u00a0 Of the three dried grapes in the title, only the Sultana is named after the grape variety from which it originated, however there seems no solid evidence to explain why the Sultana grape has this name at all.\u00a0 Sultana grapes<\/a> originate in Asia, in the Ottoman empire region so there may have been a link made by Europeans to the geographic origin of the fruit and the name of royalty there.<\/p>\n

\"Raisins,<\/a>
Raisins, Sultanas, Currants<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

To continue the theme of confusing names, the Currant<\/a> appears to have gained its name as a corruption of the word Corinth, from the place of origin of the first currants to reach western Europe.\u00a0 Black, Red and White Currants are in an entirely different plant genus – Ribes<\/em> and have nothing to do with grapes – Vitis<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\"SunMaid\"<\/a>Dried grapes have the generic name ‘Raisin<\/a>‘ in the USA but in England and Commonwealth countries including Australia and New Zealand the consistent distinction is made between large seeded, and usually dark-coloured,\u00a0 Raisins and the similar sized but seedless and light-coloured sultanas.\u00a0 The etymology of raisin is highly botanical, it is derived from the Latin ‘racemus<\/a>‘ meaning a cluster of berries or grapes.\u00a0 In this case we know the derivation of the word but the application of it varies from place to place.\u00a0 One of the commonest brands of Raisin in the UK and USA is Sun Maid, but in England, at least, these should probably be called Sultanas.<\/p>\n

\"Christmas<\/a>
Christmas Cake<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Whatever you call them, dried grapes have been in human production for several thousand years, possibly dating back to 6000BC<\/a>.\u00a0 Drying grapes was easy in hot north African, West Asian and Middle Eastern climates and provided a supply of mineral and vitamin rich food that could be stored long term.\u00a0 Despite the health giving properties of these dried fruit they can also be rehydrated and fermented to make wine.\u00a0 There were various prohibitions against eating dried grapes in the Bible<\/a> but these dried grapes were also awarded as prizes <\/a>in ancient Greek and Roman sporting events.<\/p>\n

Production of dried grapes on a world basis is around 1.2 million tonnes<\/a> per year, led by the USA.\u00a0 How they are divided among currants, sultanas and raisins is harder to establish.<\/p>\n

A somewhat dangerous Christmas game dating back to the 16th Century is that of Snap-Dragon<\/a> or Flap-Dragon, where raisins are soaked in Brandy and set alight.\u00a0 While the fruit are still burning competitors have to pick them up and extinguish the flames by eating the fruit.\u00a0 This game is mentioned by Costard in Act 5, scene 1 of Shakespeare’s Love’s Labour’s Lost (1594) and by many subsequent authors.<\/p>\n