Legacies from Turkish Cuisine to World Cuisine: Currants

Currants, which are frequently used in Turkish cuisine, are one of the products inherited from world cuisine. Currants, which are among the dried fruit varieties, are mostly used in dishes such as olive oil, cakes, wraps, stuffed pilaf, compote, stuffing in Turkish cuisine. Apart from this, currants, which are also used in desserts, add flavor to the product used. It is frequently preferred in desserts such as aşure, zerde, and rice pudding. In addition, it is among the dried fruit varieties in our culture.

What is Currant?

Currants are a plant that grows in Asia, Northwest Africa, Europe, and North America. Its homeland is Anatolia, it grows mainly in Isparta and Mersin in our country. The botanical name of the current is "Ribes nigrum". It is a cold-resistant plant and grows easily in mountainous regions. It is a type of plant with currant-colored flowers that grow on medium-sized bushes.

Currants, which were found in the wild in the 1400s, were used as medicine. In the next century, these domesticated plant species were used in gardens in Western Europe. Currant buds and leaves have been used in herbal medicine for years.

How Are Currants Grown?

Currants today have about 230 different species. The ideal season for planting this plant in autumn. Planting the plant, which can also be planted in the spring, in this season causes it to have a difficult process to gain strength. For this reason, September and October are the ideal times for planting. Currants begin to wake up and bloom in the spring, after a hibernation period. This plant, which likes wet soil as a soil type, should be grown in an area sheltered from the wind. Currants are not affected much by shade or sun. Before planting currants, suitable conditions should be prepared. Planting it in a pit with a size of about 50 cm provides a suitable environment for the roots to get stronger. Rarely watering will suffice for the plant, which does not want a lot of water. Currants, which can be grown comfortably in geographies with temperate climates, are also frequently consumed as dried fruit.

Where Are Currants Used?

Currants, which are among the dried fruit varieties, are a product frequently used in Turkish cuisine. Its use as dried is mostly preferred in olive oil dishes and desserts. The use of currants, which adds a different flavor to the dish or dessert it is used in, is quite common in our country. It is preferred to be used with pine nuts in dishes such as stuffing, wrapping, pilaf stuffing. Currants, which are suitable for daily consumption apart from meals, can also be consumed as a snack during the day. Currants, which are also included in mixed snack packages, can be consumed with pleasure together with dried fruit varieties. In addition, currants are among the dried fruit varieties; It is also used with pleasure in pastry products such as cakes, pastries, and cookies.

How to Dry Currants?

Currants, one of the dried fruit varieties, can be dried with different drying methods. One of the drying methods of currants is sun drying. Drying currants in the sun is one of the natural dried fruit methods. The method of drying currants in the sun is done by sorting the grapes, washing them thoroughly, and laying them on a tray. Here the grapes should not come into contact with each other. The currants laid out on the tray are covered and left to dry in the sun.

One of the drying methods of currants is the oven drying method. Drying in the oven, which is one of the preferred methods for drying fruits in dried fruit varieties, provides dried fruit in a short time.

Another method of drying currants is drying with a dehydrator. The dehydrator method, which is one of the methods used for dried fruit, is the drying process with a food dryer.