Hardy's grape farm

most of Europe, dried grapes are universally referred to as 'raisins' or the local equivalent. In the UK, three different varieties are recognized, forcing the EU to use the term "Dried vine fruit" in official documents.

A raisin is any dried grape. While raisin is a French loanword, the word in French refers to the fresh fruit; grappe (whence the English grape is derived) refers to the bunch (as in une grappe de raisins).

A currant is a dried Zante grape, the name being a corruption of the French raisin de Corinthe (Corinth grape). Note also that currant has come to refer also to the blackcurrant and redcurrant, two berries completely unrelated to grapes.

A sultana was originally a raisin made from a specific type of grape of Turkish origin, but the word is now applied to raisins made from common grapes and chemically treated to resemble the traditional sultana.

Seedlessness is a highly desirable subjective quality in table grape selection, and seedless cultivars now make up the overwhelming majority of table grape plantings. Because grapevines are vegetatively propagated by cuttings, the lack of seeds does not present a problem for reproduction. It is, however, an issue for breeders, who must either use a seeded variety as the female parent or rescue embryos early in development using tissue culture techniques.

There are several sources of the seedlessness trait, and essentially all commercial cultivators get it from one of three sources: Thompson Seedless, Russian Seedless, and Black Monukka, all being cultivars of Vitis vinifera. Numerous seedless cultivars, such as Einset Seedless, Reliance and Venus, have been specifically cultivated for hardiness and quality in the relatively cold climates of north-eastern United States and southern Ontario.[5] Bright green and elongated or round, the popular Sugraone grape offers a light, sweet flavor and distinctive crunch.

Contrary to the improved eating quality of seedlessness is the loss of potential health benefits provided by the enriched phytochemical content of grape seeds (see Health claims).[6][7]

ccording to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), 75,866 square kilometres of the world are dedicated to grapes. Approximately 71% of world grape production is used for wine, 27% as fresh fruit, and 2% as dried fruit. A portion of grape production goes to producing grape juice to be reconstituted for fruits canned "with no added sugar" and "100% natural". The area dedicated to vineyards is increasing by about 2% per year.

The following table of top wine-producers shows the corresponding areas dedicated to grapes for wine making:
Country Area Dedicated
Spain 11,750 km²
France 8,640 km²
Italy 8,270 km²
Turkey 8,120 km²
United States 4,150 km²
Iran 2,860 km²
Romania 2,480 km²
Portugal 2,160 km²
Argentina 2,080 km²
Australia 1,642 km²
Lebanon 1,122 km²

Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 35 minutes
Ingredients:

* 1-1/2 pounds hot Italian sausage, cut into 3-inch lengths (see Note)
* 1-1/2 pounds sweet Italian sausage, cut into 3-inch lengths
* 3 Tablespoons unsalted butter
* 2-1/2 pounds red or green seedless grapes, stemmed (6 to 7 cups)
* 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar

Preparation:
Preheat the oven to 500 degrees F. Bring a large pot of water to a boil over high heat. Prick the sausages with the tip of a knife or a metal skewer and add them to the boiling water. Boil the sausages gently for 8 minutes, then drain them and set aside.

Melt the butter in a large roasting pan over low heat. Add the grapes to the pan and toss to coat them with the butter. With tongs transfer the parboiled sausages to the pan and push them down into the grapes so that the sausages will not brown too quickly.

Roast the sausages and grapes in the preheated oven, turning the sausages once, until the grapes are soft and the sausages have browned, 20 to 25 minutes. With a slotted spoon, transfer the sausages and grapes to a heated serving platter.

Place the roasting pan on top of the stove over a medium-high flame and add the balsamic vinegar. Stir to scrape up the browned bits on the bottom of the pan and cook the vinegar and juices until they are thick and syrupy.

Pour the sauce over the sausages and grapes and serve immediately, accompanied with mashed potatoes.

Note: Use more sweet sausages and fewer hot ones for a milder dish, but do use Italian sausages, as their fennel and garlic flavors are essential to this dish.

Yield: 6 to 8 servings

Recipe Source: Great Chefs of the East by Ellen Brown (Great Chefs Publishing)
Reprinted with permission.

Ingredients:

* 1/2 cup sour cream
* 3/4 cup mayonnaise
* 1 teaspoon honey
* 1 Tablespoon celery seed
* 4 cups shredded cabbage
* 1/2 sweet red onion, very thinly sliced
* 2 cups minature marshmallows
* 1 cup green seedless grapes, sliced in half
* 1 cup red seedless grapes, sliced in half
* 1 can (15-1/2 ounces) pineapple chunks, drained

Preparation:
Whisk together sour cream, mayonnaise, honey, and celery seed until well-combined.

Place cabbage, red onion, marshmallows, grapes, and pineapple in a large mixing bowl. Top with the mayonnaise and sour cream dressing mixture and gently toss to combine. Cover and refrigerate 4 hours before serving to allow flavors to meld.

Pineapple coleslaw may be made a day in advance.

Yield: About 10 servings

Raisin Varieties and Types
Why are raisins labeled "seedless"? Aren't they all seedless? Yes and no.

The term "seedless" can be confusing unless you know the reasoning behind it. Seedless raisins are made from grapes with no seeds. Seeded raisins are made from grapes that normally have seeds, but from which the seeds have been removed before or after drying. The two are not generally interchangeable because the flavor is quite different.

Seeded raisins are more difficult to find than the common seedless variety carried on most market shelves, often only available during autumn and winter seasons for the holidays.

%u2022 Dark raisins: These are the most common variety found in markets, usually made from Thompson seedless grapes. Although they start as green grapes, the fruit naturally darkens as it dries.

%u2022 White or golden raisins: These are also called muscats and are generally made of white muscat grapes which are seeded, specially oven-dried (rather than by sun), and treated to retain their light color. Some golden raisins are dried Thompson seedless raisins which have been kept light in color by the use of sulfur dioxide.

%u2022 Sultanas: More popular in Europe, these raisins come from a seedless yellow grape and are usually softer and sweeter than other varieties. The American variety of sultana grape is the Thompson seedless.

%u2022 Currants: Although there is a gooseberry relative known as the currant, the dried currant raisin is actually made from Black Corinth grape called Zante. They are tiny, seedless, and very sweet but do bear a resemblance to the currant berry. The name confusion comes not only from the currant raisin's similar appearance to the currant berry, but also due to the similarity of the sounds of the fruit names, ie., currant sounds like Corinth, the variety of grape. Tiny dried currants are extremely sweet and aromatic.

Grapes belong to the Vitaceae family. The genus Vitis is broadly distributed, largely between 25° and 50° N latitude in eastern Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and North America. Vitis is split into 2 subgenera:

1. Euvitis - "True grapes"; elongated clusters, berries that adhere to stems at maturity, forked tendrils, loose bark that detaches in long strips, and diaphragms in pith at nodes. itis vinifera, the European grape, and V. labrusca, the Concord grape.

2. Muscadinia - "Muscadine grapes"; small fruit clusters, thick-skinned fruit, berries that detach one-by-one as they mature, simple tendrils, smooth bark with lenticels, and lack diaphragms in pith at nodes. V. rotundifolia.