Currants: Barely Legal!

Currants turn out to be a little bit confusing and to have a more checkered past than we usually expect from our CSA constituents.

First of all, the dried fruit you know as "currants" are made from Zante grapes and are small, sweet raisins. That's not what these are.

The reason for the confusion? Proper currants (the fruit of bushes of the genus Ribes) were not grown in the United States for much of the twentieth century. When white pine blister rust appeared in the United States around 1900, currant bushes (and particularly black currants) were implicated as a key part of the destructive fungus's lifecycle. The country moved to get rid of the plants to protect the timber industry: one Depression-era CCC project was black currant eradication.

In 1966, the decision about whether to allow growing currants was returned to the states. Many kept their bans on the books; New York finally overturned its ban in 2003. Massachusetts actually still has a black currant quarantine in force; growing red and white currants is allowed in some towns.

(Red and black are the more common colors for currants. Our white currants are actually albino red currants.)

When we looked at the recipes Enterprise sent around for currants, Erica said "couscous," so that's what we made. Because we can't leave well enough alone, we added grated carrots and finely chopped green pepper and substituted cilantro for the parsley. Quick and tasty!