On food and cooking the science and lore of the kitchen ( PDFDrive ) 702

thealcoholtogel.
Lingonberriesorcowberriesarethefruitof
aEuropeanrelativeofthecranberry,V.vitisidaea;theyhaveadistinctive,complexflavor.
TheEuropeancranberry,V.oxycoccus,hasa
strongerandmoregrassy,herbaceousflavor
thantheAmericanspecies.
Currants and Gooseberries Currants and
gooseberries are all species of the genus
Ribes,whichisfoundinnorthernEuropeand
North America. These small berries don’t
appear to have been cultivated until around
1500. (Their cultivation in the United States
has been retarded by federal and state
restrictionsbecausetheycanharboradisease
thatattackswhitepines.)Therearewhiteand
red currants,R. sativum andR. rubrum, and
hybridsbetweenthetwo.TheblackcurrantR.
nigrum, is higher in acid than the others, and
has a distinctively intense aroma made up of
many spicy terpenes, fruity esters, and a


musky, “catty” sulfur compound that is also
found in sauvignon blanc wines. Black
currantsarealsonotablyrichinvitaminCand
in antioxidant phenolic compounds — as
muchas1%oftheirweight—aboutathirdof
whichareanthocyaninpigments.Currantsare
mainly made into preserves, and the French
make black currants into a liqueur,crème de
cassis.

Thegooseberry,R.grossularia,islarger
thanthecurrant,andisoftenpickedunripefor
cookingintartsandsauces.Thejostaberryis
ablackcurrant–gooseberrycross.
GrapesGrapesaretheberriesofwoodyvines
in the genusVitis. V. vinifera, the major
source of wine and table grapes, is native to
Eurasia (p. 772). There are also about 10
grapespeciesnativetotemperateAsia,and25
to North America, including theV. labrusca
that gives us Concord and Catawba grapes.
About two-thirds of the world’s grape