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29-524: The Zante currant is one of the oldest known raisins . The first written record of the grape was made in 75 AD by Pliny the Elder , who described a tiny, juicy, thin-skinned grape with small bunches. The next mention is a millennium later, when the raisins became a subject of trade between Venetian merchants and Greek producers from Ionian coasts. In the 14th century, they were sold in the English market under

58-467: A cup of cold tea is included in the mixture, and marmalade is used as a glaze. Celebrity chef Bryn Williams uses lard in his recipe, and a combination of raisins and candied peel as the mixed fruit. The flavours of a Bara Brith have also been made into other types of food. Pemberton's Victorian Chocolates in Llanboidy , Carmarthenshire , developed a Bara Brith-inspired chocolate in 2009, using

87-590: A key ingredient of British cuisine for centuries, having been imported from the Mediterranean as sweet luxury goods long before cane sugar became widely available in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Alongside raisins and sultanas they feature heavily in a wide variety of traditional baked goods recipes, including fruitcake , currant buns , teacakes , Eccles cakes , Saffron cake , bread and butter pudding , spotted dick , Welsh cakes , Bara brith , Christmas pudding and mince pies . They are also

116-684: A major ingredient of currant slice (or currant square) and currant cake. Zante currants are often sold in mixtures of "mixed dried fruit". Unlike blackcurrants, Zante currants are not a significant source of vitamin C. The fresh fruit Zante raisins are made from is very small and sweet, with quite an intense flavour for a grape. Black, White and Red Corinth are often marketed under the name "Champagne grapes" in U.S. specialty stores, but they are not used for making Champagne . Along with grapes and raisins, Zante currants are nephrotoxic to dogs. This toxicity manifests as kidney failure and can be seen in relatively small doses. Raisins A raisin

145-444: A reddish black color. The skin is very thin, and the flesh is juicy and soft. It is practically seedless, except in an occasional large berry. When dried, the raisins weigh 0.0032–0.0049 oz (0.091–0.139 g) and are dark brown or black. Leaves are medium-sized, heart-shaped, and oblong. They are five-lobed with deep sinuses. To yield sufficient fruit, Black Corinth grapes need to be carefully managed. In ancient times, girdling

174-686: A segment on the ITV television series This Morning . He used a traditional recipe which had been handed down to local chef Nerys Roberts through her family. Her bakery had previously supplied British supermarket chain Safeway with Bara Brith, before it was bought out by Morrisons. Beca Lyne-Pirkis baked a Bara Brith for one her entries during the fourth season of the BBC television series The Great British Bake Off in 2013. Although she based it on her grandmother's recipe, she found it difficult to complete within

203-475: A tart, tangy flavor. They are usually called currants. Muscat raisins are larger and sweeter than other varieties. Grapes used to produce raisins in the Middle East and Asia include the large black monukka (or manucca) grapes that produce large raisins. Raisins are produced commercially by drying harvested grape berries . For a grape berry to dry, water inside the grape must be removed completely from

232-512: A year later, a survey showed that 36% of teenagers in Wales had never tried it. It has been subsequently championed by celebrity chefs such as Bryn Williams . Several variations on bara brith have been made, including changing it into a chocolate, sausages and even into ice cream . Bara Brith derived its name from the Welsh language , bara meaning bread and brith translating as speckled. It

261-544: Is a dried grape . Raisins are produced in many regions of the world and may be eaten raw or used in cooking , baking , and brewing . In the United Kingdom , Ireland , New Zealand , Australia and South Africa , the word raisin is reserved for the dark-colored dried large grape, with sultana being a golden- or green-colored dried grape, and currant being a dried small Black Corinth seedless grape. The word raisin dates back to Middle English and

290-511: Is a loanword from Old French ; in modern French , raisin means "grape", while a dried grape is a raisin sec , or "dry grape". The Old French word, in turn, developed from the Latin word racemus , which means "a bunch of grapes." Raisin varieties depend on the types of grapes used and appear in a variety of sizes and colors, including green, black, brown, purple, blue, and yellow. Seedless varieties include sultanas (the common American type

319-430: Is a necessary step in raisin production to ensure the increased rate of water removal during the drying process. A faster water removal rate decreases the rate of browning and helps to produce more desirable raisins. The historical method of completing this process was developed in the Mediterranean and Asia Minor areas by using a dry emulsion cold dip made of potassium carbonate and ethyl esters of fatty acids. This dip

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348-552: Is also known as torta negra ("black cake"). One of the most traditional foods coming out of the Chubut valleys, it was brought by the Welsh settlers who started arriving in the country in 1865. Other variations exist within Wales. Lyne-Pirkis' version of the Bara Brith on The Great British Bake Off substituted a tea oil to replace the overnight soaking process for the fruit. In E. Smith Twiddy's The Little Welsh Cookbook ,

377-404: Is an inexpensive process; however, environmental contamination, insect infections, and microbial deterioration can occur and the resulting raisins are often of low quality. Additionally, sun drying is a slow process and may not produce the most desirable raisins. Mechanical drying can be done in a safer and more controlled environment where rapid drying is guaranteed. One type of mechanical drying

406-436: Is completed after washing to ensure that the added moisture has been removed. All steps in the production of raisins are very important in determining the quality of raisins. Sometimes sulfur dioxide is applied to raisins after the pre-treatment step and before drying to decrease the rate of browning caused by the reaction between polyphenol oxidase and phenolic compounds. Sulfur dioxide also helps to preserve flavor and prevent

435-617: Is known as Thompson Seedless in the United States), Zante currants (black Corinthian raisins, Vitis vinifera L. var. Apyrena), and Flame grapes . Raisins are traditionally sun-dried but may also be artificially dehydrated. Golden raisins are generally dried in dehydrators with controlled temperature and humidity, which allows them to retain a lighter color and more moisture. They are often treated with sulfur dioxide after drying. Black Corinth or Zante currants are small, sometimes seedless, raisins that are much darker and have

464-439: Is susceptible to numerous other diseases such as downy mildew and black rot . Greece is still the primary producer of Zante currants, amounting to about 80% of total world production, with California, South Africa and Australia sharing most of the remainder. Zante currants are usually called simply "currants", except in the U.S., and in many anglophone countries are used in traditional baked goods and puddings. They have been

493-450: Is then proved to allow fermentation to take place. After an initial period, the air is knocked out of the mixture and it is allowed to prove once more. This period of preparation can take up to two hours, including the resting time for the bread mixture. It is then baked in an oven. Bara Brith is traditionally served at tea time , alongside tea . It is normally served in slices with butter spread on one side. In Argentina , Bara Brith

522-470: Is to use microwave drying. Water molecules in the grapes absorb microwave energy resulting in rapid evaporation. Microwave drying produces puffed raisins. After the drying process is complete, raisins are sent to processing plants where they are cleaned with water to remove any foreign objects that may have become embedded during the drying process. Stems and off-grade raisins are also removed. The washing process may cause rehydration, so another drying step

551-582: The Daily Value (DV) of riboflavin , vitamin B6 , and several dietary minerals rich in content (above 20% DV), including potassium and copper (table). Raisins can cause kidney failure in both cats and dogs. The cause of this is not known. Bara brith Bara brith is a traditional Welsh tea bread flavoured with tea , dried fruits and spices. A decrease in its popularity led to supermarket Morrisons removing it from their shelves in 2006;

580-716: 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 Ágoston 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. However, because of the higher popularity of Thompson Seedless , American production remained modest up to 1920s and 1930s, after which its popularity increased due to

609-588: The company insisted that the bread was removed because of lack of sales. A survey conducted by British supermarket chain Sainsbury's in 2007, showed that 36% of teenagers in Wales surveyed had never tried Bara Brith. When responses across the UK were viewed, some 85% of teenagers had never tried the traditional Welsh bread. Celebrity chef Phil Vickery baked Bara Brith in Brynsiencyn , Anglesey , in 2011 for

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638-737: The higher prices it could bring and improved cultivation practices such as girdling . The plantings reached 3,000 acres (1,200 ha) by 1936, and have plateaued there since. In wild grapes, the species is dioecious ; the sexes grow on separate vines with male flowers on one plant, and female flowers on another. Black Corinth is an "almost male" variety in that the flowers have well-developed anthers (male), but only tiny underdeveloped ovaries (female). Clusters of Black Corinth are small, averaging 6.3 oz (180 g) and ranging from 3.2 to 9.5 oz (91 to 269 g). They are cylindrical, with prominent shoulder or winged. The berries are very small 0.012–0.021 oz (0.34–0.60 g), round, and of

667-504: The interior of the cells onto the surface of the grape where the water droplets can evaporate. However, this diffusion process is very difficult because the grape skin contains wax in its cuticle, which prevents the water from passing through. In addition to this, the physical and chemical mechanisms located on the outer layers of the grape are adapted to prevent water loss. The three steps to commercial raisin production include pre-treatment, drying, and post-drying processes. Pre-treatment

696-527: The label Reysyns de Corauntz , and the name raisins of Corinth was recorded in the 15th century, after the Greek harbor which was the primary source of export. Gradually, the name was altered to currant . By the 17th century trade shifted towards the Ionian islands, particularly Zakynthos (Zante), resulting in the name Zante currant . The first attempts to introduce the Black Corinth cultivar in

725-459: The loss of certain vitamins during the drying process. Estimated global production of raisins in 2023–24 was 1.1 million tonnes , led by Turkey , China, Iran, and the United States as the largest producers. Raisins are 15% water, 79% carbohydrates (including 4% fiber ), and 3% protein , and contain negligible fat (table). In a reference amount of 100 grams (3.5 oz), raisins supply 299 kilocalories and moderate amounts (10–19% DV) of

754-414: The three hours allocated for that round. But it won praise from judges Paul Hollywood and Mary Berry . The bread is made by mixing flour (either white or self-raising ), yeast (if not using self-raising flour), butter, mixed dried fruit (such as raisins , currants and sultanas ), mixed spices and an egg. Some recipes favour soaking the dried fruit in tea overnight before the baking. This mixture

783-450: Was a standard practice to increase the set and size of seedless grapes, until the discovery of the plant hormone gibberellic acid , and its ability to do the same thing with less labor. Historically, Black Corinth stock was probably kept for its pollen-producing abilities, so other female flowered varieties (with naturally higher yields) would set full crops. The Black Corinth cultivar is also reputed to be very prone to powdery mildew , and

812-426: Was shown to increase the rate of water loss by two- to three-fold. Recently, new methods have been developed such as exposing the grapes to oil emulsions or dilute alkaline solutions. These methods can encourage water transfer to the outer surface of grapes which helps to increase the efficiency of the drying process. The three types of drying methods are: sun drying, shade drying, and mechanical drying. Sun drying

841-515: Was traditionally made in farmhouses by adding fruit, sugar and spices to the basic bread dough to make a sweet treat for special occasions. It has subsequently been used as a colloquialism—to "over spice the Bara Brith" means to do something to excess. In 2006, British supermarket chain Morrisons withdrew Bara Brith from sale at 19 of its Wales-based stores. Complaints were issued in the Press, but

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