Ribitt wrote:
"Blanche Nonken" wrote in message
...

George Shirley wrote:


I send Bill gumbo file
and hot sauce and he sends me dried currants, real currants, not those
teensy California grape things they call currants here in the USA. \

The name originates from England, by way of Greece. They were called
"Grapes of Corinthe" - or so I've read. Time and language being what it
is in England, they're now called currants.


No, no!!

Elderberries and red (or black) currants are two different things, at least
here in Canada.

Elderberries are an astringent type of thing. I have made wine from them
(and you have to be dedicated to drink that stuff). They are a real pain to
get off the clusters. I use a dinner fork. They grow in large bushes or
small trees.

Currants grow along a branch in smaller bushes, more like gooseberries.

Elderberries and currants can both be used for jellies and jams.

Dried currants, as I understand it, come from a variety of small grapes.
Small raisins, so to speak.


I'm pretty sure that Blanche knows the difference between elderberries
and currants as do I. The small grapes (currants) are what passes for
dried currants in the USA because, AFAIK, there is no commercial acreage
in real currants. If you read the box, can, bag of commercial currants
it tells you plainly that they are teeny grapes (raisins). they also do
not taste like real currants.

Elderberries are not that astringent, you just have to add a little more
sugar when fermenting them into must to make wine. I eat them off the
bush but don't enjoy them enough to make a meal of them.

George