Küchenlatein

Kalyn invites us to Holyday Cooking with Herbs. In keeping with the rules for Weekend Herb Blogging, foodbloggers can submit any posts with a holiday recipe using herbs, plants, veggies and flowers. For me there is no Christmas cooking without raisins, currants or sultanas, but I never thought of the difference between them. I used them last year for the Make-ahead mulled wine cake, this year I already prepared Deep-filled Mince Pies with Mincemeat.

Raisin is the generic term for dried grapes. Raisins come in many varieties, depending on the type or varietal of grape that is dried.

Sultana is a type of white, seedless grape of Turkish or Persian origin, the sultana grape. Sultanas are light and golden coloured. They are grown in Turkey, Australia and South Afrika. In the United States the sultana grape is cultivated under the name Thompson Seedless. Virtually all California raisins are produced from the sultana (or Thompson Seedless) grape, even those which, because of different drying processes, do not resemble the traditional sultana raisin. The term sultana is not commonly used to refer to any type of raisin in American English; as most American raisins are from sultana grapes, they are called simply raisins or golden raisins, according to colour. What cultural differences between the Old and the New World ;-).

Currants are a type of red, seedless grape, with black-brown to black-blue colour, the "Black Corinth/Currant", lat. Vitis vinifera apyre. Its named after the Greek town Corinthia. They are not related to the currant berry in the ribes family.

And did you now, that dried grapes on the grape-vine are called in German Zibebe?

I used sultanas for the


A perfect gift and we'll enjoy it with a festive meal.

For more pictures go to the German entry.

-========= REZKONV-Recipe - RezkonvSuite v1.3

Title: Classic Christmas chutney
Categories: X-mas
Yield: 2 .75kg (6 lb 2oz) chutney

1.85 kg Cooking apples, peeled, cored and roughly
-- chopped, 4 lb 2oz
250 grams Sultanas, 9 oz
100 grams Crystallised ginger, 4 oz
7 Garlic cloves, roughly sliced
1/2 teasp. Mixed spice
1/2 teasp. Cayenne pepper
1/2 teasp. Salt
1/2 teasp. Ground coriander
600 ml Malt vinegar, 1 pt
750 grams Light muscovado sugar, 1 lb 10 oz

============================ SOURCE ============================
BBC Good Food Magazine, November 2006, p. 84
-- Edited *RK* 12/11/2006 by
-- Ulrike Westphal

1 Tip the apples, sultanas, ginger and garlic into a food processor
and pulse until roughly minced, but still quite chunky. Tip the
fruit into a saucepan with 100 ml water, cover, then cook over a
high heat for 10 mins.

2 Stir in the spices and half the vinegar, then cook, uncovered, for
45 mins.

3 While the chutney is cooking, stir the sugar and remaining vinegar
together. When the apples have had the allotted time, pour over the
sugar solution and simmer everything, very slowly, for 2-2 1/2 hrs.
Stir occasionally at the beginning, then more at the end until the
required consistency is reached - this is when a wooden spoon drawn
through the mixture leaves a clean path and no trace of unabsorbed
liquid. Leave to cool, then fill hot sterilised jars to the brim.
Seal with a lid and stick on the labels. (See Know-how, below, for
tips on storing chutneys.)

:PER 25g SERVING 41 kcalories, protein none, carbohydrate 11 g fat
none, fibre 1 g, sugar 10g, salt 0.03g

:PREP 15 mins :COOK 3-3 1/2 hrs
:Moderately easy

KNOW-HOW
• Ideally, use jars with new rubber seals and spring-clip or
screwband fastenings. If you are using jam jars, use ones with
plasticcoated lids as vinegar will corrode metal.
• Store the chutneys for at least one month before using. This will
give enough time for the flavours to develop.
• The chutney will keep for at least 6 months in a sealed jar. After
opening, keep in the fridge and eat within 1 month.

=====

tagged with: Food, Recipes, Cooking, Weekend Herb Blogging
Holiday Cooking with Herbs at Kalyn's Kitchen

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