One Of Which I Had Never Heard

B

Big Unc

Dedicated Member
A Yorkshire food item just on the National Lottery Quiz Show - a 'Fat Rascal' which is apparently a fruit scone.
 
Kinda like an Eccles Cake but I think with larger berries.
Eccles cake has currents. Fat Rascal has candied fruit
and a candied cherry on top.

If you get to Hawes, the butcher/bakery there sells both.
And they are really good for breakfast.
 
Well, it's not likely that I'll get to Hawes anytime soon. So as far as I can gather, an Eccles Cake is like a scone with currents (raisins); and a Fat Rascal is a scone with candied fruit and a cherry on top.
 
Adanor said:
an Eccles Cake is like a scone with currents (raisins); and a Fat Rascal is a scone with candied fruit and a cherry on top.
Click to expand...

That's just about it!!

But their currents are very UNLIKE our raisins. Smaller and
a bit tastier.
 
A fat rascal is one of the top sellers at the famous Bettys Tea rooms in Harrogate. Never had one myself. Couldn't afford it after a £3 cup of tea.
 
I just got an email which advised today is 'World Baking Day'. Never heard of that one before.

Back to Fat Rascals, recipe from that noted Yorkshire chef, James Martin:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/fatrascals_93997

This indicates a mass of ingredients including, in the fruit line (and mostly dried fruit rather than candied):

1 orange, zest only
1 lemon, zest only
50g/1¾oz currants
50g/1¾oz raisins
50g/1¾oz sultanas
50g/1¾oz glacé cherries

To me the only item there bordering on candied is the glacé cherries.

I noted some of the US comments on currants and raisins - currants are MUCH smaller and apparently can be known as Zante currants in US. And apparently sultanas are sometimes called Golden Raisins.
• Raisins are dried white grapes. They are dried to produce a dark, sweet fruit. The grapes used are usually Moscatel.
• Sultanas are also dried white grapes but from seedless varieties. They are golden in color and tend to be plumper, sweeter and juicier than other raisins. Also referred to as Golden Raisins in the US.
• Currants are dried, dark red, seedless grapes. They are dried to produce a black, tiny shrivelled, flavour-packed the grapes were originally cultivated in the south of Greece, and the name currant comes from the ancient city of 'Corinth'. These currants are known as Zante currants in the States.
 
The fruit and plant called "currants" (genus Ribes) in the States, (not "Zante currants" a.k.a. Vitis vinifera) is a relative of the gooseberry (Ribes uva-crispa), not a grape cultivar. So which genus are the black currants that I've enjoyed in the UK? :confused:

Farming of the plant called "black currant" in the States (Ribes nigrum) was banned by Federal regulation in 1900 because it's a host for white pine blister rust. Regulation devolved to individual states in the '60s, but the plant is still banned in some states, so the fruit is difficult to find. I had red currants (Ribes rubrum) as a child and enjoyed them very much, but haven't seen them since then.

Marianna
 
I do think Wikipedia sums it up:

Ribes, genus of berry plants, e.g. blackcurrant, redcurrant
Zante currant, dried Black Corinth grapes; smaller than raisins ("Zante currant" in USA, "currant" in other English speaking countries).

Blackcurrants and currants are certainly not the same. Blackcurrants are a berry. Currants are dried grapes.
 
In my region of the States red currants, which used to be quite common, are referred to simply as "currants". I had heard of blackcurrants (apparently different from the "black currants" with a space between the words, that are still banned in some places here) only in British books.

So I've been faked out while in the UK into eating and enjoying what are basically raisins. Raisins don't normally like me, so I've learned to dislike them.

Marianna
 
index4u said:
The fruit and plant called "currants" (genus Ribes) in the States, (not "Zante currants" a.k.a. Vitis vinifera) is a relative of the gooseberry (Ribes uva-crispa), not a grape cultivar. So which genus are the black currants that I've enjoyed in the UK? :confused:

Farming of the plant called "black currant" in the States (Ribes nigrum) was banned by Federal regulation in 1900 because it's a host for white pine blister rust. Regulation devolved to individual states in the '60s, but the plant is still banned in some states, so the fruit is difficult to find. I had red currants (Ribes rubrum) as a child and enjoyed them very much, but haven't seen them since then.

Marianna
Click to expand...
So this explains why black currants (Ribes nigrum) can never be found here in the US. Thanks.
 
Pearl said:
Do you have Ribena in the US?

Short answer: sort of available. Long answer follows.

My local supermarket sells the concentrate, 20.3 fl. oz. (0.60921 Liters) @ $6.99 (£4.14), to be mixed at home at the rate of 50 ml of concentrate with 200 ml water per serving. It's imported and partly labeled for US sales - the contents of the bottle is given in ounces, but the mixing instructions give the quantities in ml and the concentrate is referred to there as "squash", which here in my region of the States means only the vegetable that grows on a vine, never fruit juice.

Ready-to-drink Ribena is available from an Amazon.com merchant located in the UK @ $10.50 (£6.22) for 500 ml with free shipping.

I had never heard of blackcurrants here until the start of the "superfoods" marketing campaign, and the products still aren't very prevalent.

Marianna
Click to expand...
 
Thank you. You buy it here ready to drink or in a concentrated form to add water at home. I just wonder if it was available with black currants being banned over there. Its a popular drink for serving to kids and yes we call it fruit squash which can mean orange, black currant, strawberry or apple flavours amongst others.
 
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