# Does this Civil War era recipe use fresh currants or dried? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 27, 2009, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-this-civil-war-era-recipe-use-fresh-currants-or-dried/515343 "2009-10-27T20:32:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2009, 10:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-this-civil-war-era-recipe-use-fresh-currants-or-dried/515343/21 "2009-10-28T10:51:38Z")
> [@Zsofia](#): > > I think of currants as being the little red or black dudes. This was a Civil War-era recipe. They would not have been including any red or black dudes. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2009, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-this-civil-war-era-recipe-use-fresh-currants-or-dried/515343/22 "2009-10-28T14:10:22Z")
> [@Jeff\_Lichtman](#): > > Most green grapes turn dark when dried unless they’re bleached. Most raisins sold in the U.S. are made from Thompson seedless grapes, which are green when ripe and very dark brown (almost black) when dried. Are sultana grapes different somehow? Sultana grapes are supposedly quite different from other green grapes in their pale golden colour (when fresh). UK sultanas look like mid-tan coloured raisins - like this: > **[ImageShack - Best place for all of your image hosting and image sharing needs](https://imageshack.com/)** > > Unlimited space to host images, easy to use image uploader, albums, photo hosting, sharing, dynamic image resizing on web and mobile. Sometimes they are a little paler and softer/larger, but not through chemical treatment. I went shopping this morning and I did see golden raisins this at the supermarket (in the asian section, along with green raisins, which looked like they might be artificially coloured, but there was nothing to confirm or deny this on the pack) ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2009, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-this-civil-war-era-recipe-use-fresh-currants-or-dried/515343/23 "2009-10-28T14:13:54Z")
> [@Tom\_Tildrum](#): > > This was a Civil War-era recipe. They would not have been including any red or black dudes. Who do you think had to cook the damned thing? ---
**Author:** ![DanBlather](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f4b2a3/32.png) [@DanBlather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DanBlather)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2009, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-this-civil-war-era-recipe-use-fresh-currants-or-dried/515343/24 "2009-10-28T17:15:41Z")
When currant refers to dried grapes, it is for a small, dark raisin made from tiny champagne grapes (a misnomer as well, but we’ll leave that aside), not the larger dark raisins we usually see in the US. It is pretty clear that what is used in British scones are smaller than standard US raisins. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2009, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-this-civil-war-era-recipe-use-fresh-currants-or-dried/515343/25 "2009-10-28T17:42:44Z")
But the question is, what did people in the middle of the 19th century in America think they were? ---
**Author:** ![Rayne\_Man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/df705f/32.png) [@Rayne\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rayne_Man)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2009, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-this-civil-war-era-recipe-use-fresh-currants-or-dried/515343/26 "2009-10-28T17:51:00Z")
> [@Zsofia](#): > > But the question is, what did people in the middle of the 19th century in America think they were? Probably the same as we do in present-day UK - a dried grape. ---
**Author:** ![slightly\_askew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d07c76/32.png) [@slightly\_askew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slightly_askew)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2009, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-this-civil-war-era-recipe-use-fresh-currants-or-dried/515343/27 "2009-10-28T17:57:40Z")
My guess is that whatever they were they were probably dried. Since it’s a Christmas cake, I doubt that fresh currants (or fresh grapes) would be available in December. Looking at the recipes on [Account Suspended](http://civilwarinteractive.com/cooking/), some recipes call for both dried grapes (raisins) and dried currents, so it sounds like that there was a difference recognized between the two. (woo hoo! My first post!) ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2009, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-this-civil-war-era-recipe-use-fresh-currants-or-dried/515343/28 "2009-10-28T18:08:02Z")
I hadn’t even considered the time of year - good catch! ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2009, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-this-civil-war-era-recipe-use-fresh-currants-or-dried/515343/29 "2009-10-28T18:10:11Z")
> [@slightly\_askew](#): > > Looking at the recipes on [GhostFeeds](http://civilwarinteractive.com/cooking/), some recipes call for both dried grapes (raisins) and dried currents, so it sounds like that there was a difference recognized between the two. > > (woo hoo! My first post!) Welcome, **slightly askew**! So if the recipe calls for both raisins and currants, should you alternate the currants or plug them in directly? Someone was going to go there eventually. Might as well be me. ---
**Author:** ![Rayne\_Man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/df705f/32.png) [@Rayne\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rayne_Man)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2009, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-this-civil-war-era-recipe-use-fresh-currants-or-dried/515343/30 "2009-10-28T18:20:13Z")
I think we have forgotten the fact that when “currents” were mentioned back then they were always referring to dried grapes, and not dried black or red currents (Ribes). Don’t forget that as well as currents there are other types of dried grapes, such a raisins and sultanas. ---
**Author:** ![DanBlather](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f4b2a3/32.png) [@DanBlather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DanBlather)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2009, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-this-civil-war-era-recipe-use-fresh-currants-or-dried/515343/31 "2009-10-28T18:22:20Z")
> [@Rayne\_Man](#): > > Probably the same as we do in present-day UK - a dried grape. Just as an aside, do you Brits use the term “raisin” in addition to sultana and currant? If so, does it refer to the large black raisins we see over here? I remember helping my English mother make mincemeat with sultanas and currants, but I can’t remember if we added raisins as well. ETA: Duh, missed post above. ---
**Author:** ![Rayne\_Man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/df705f/32.png) [@Rayne\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rayne_Man)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2009, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-this-civil-war-era-recipe-use-fresh-currants-or-dried/515343/32 "2009-10-28T18:56:00Z")
As you can see all three types are on sale here :- [Tesco](http://www.mysupermarket.co.uk/grocery-categories/Raisins_Currants_And_Sultanas_In_Tesco.html) As an aside was it possible to successfully dry red and black currents (ribes) in the 19th century?. The high sugar content in grapes means that they will dry and keep for a long time. Was this the case with ribes? I imagine with modern freeze-drying methods it is possible, but I have never seen them on sale. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2009, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-this-civil-war-era-recipe-use-fresh-currants-or-dried/515343/33 "2009-10-28T20:32:43Z")
> [@Rayne\_Man](#): > > Probably the same as we do in present-day UK - a dried grape. All of the other ingredients are for a traditional-style fruit cake. The currants in this recipe _have to be_ the dried grape kind - or their omission requires an explanation. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2009, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-this-civil-war-era-recipe-use-fresh-currants-or-dried/515343/34 "2009-10-29T01:00:58Z")
> [@slightly\_askew](#): > > (woo hoo! My first post!) Welcome, slightly. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2009, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-this-civil-war-era-recipe-use-fresh-currants-or-dried/515343/35 "2009-10-29T01:49:35Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > Welcome, slightly. 🙂 🙂 I thought it was a perfectly plum(b) post, identifying a dimension I hadn’t even considered. Is that too much of a reach for a pun? ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2009, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-this-civil-war-era-recipe-use-fresh-currants-or-dried/515343/36 "2009-10-29T02:19:03Z")
> [@Zsofia](#): > > 🙂 I thought it was a perfectly plum(b) post, identifying a dimension I hadn’t even considered. > > Is that too much of a reach for a pun? It took me a while to get that. I feel like Mr. Spock at a Knock Knock Joke symposium. ---
**Author:** ![JR\_Brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d6d6ee/32.png) [@JR\_Brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JR_Brown)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2009, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-this-civil-war-era-recipe-use-fresh-currants-or-dried/515343/37 "2009-10-30T18:56:26Z")
> [@Zsofia](#): > > Um, I was going to at least half it, maybe quarter it. So my first question is, are those currants dried or fresh? > > My other question is, am I accidentally making fruitcake? I don’t care for fruitcake. > > My other other question is… four hours? Any suggestions on that one? The rest of these recipes don’t state a time at all so I figured you just throw 'em in at 350 until a knife comes out clean, but this one specifically says four hours. At 200? 1. Yes, dried. 2. Yes, fruitcake. Most “special occasion” cakes were; this goes back to the Middle Ages. Lighter cakes became populular towards the end of the Victorian period. 3. Oven temperature was very poorly defined; no-one had thermometers, so correct temperature was judged by how long you could keep your hand in the oven, how long it took a scrap of paper to turn brown, etc. Fruitcakes tend to be baked at low tempertaures, around 250 degrees. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2009, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-this-civil-war-era-recipe-use-fresh-currants-or-dried/515343/38 "2009-12-06T02:02:55Z")
If anybody’s interested, I just put it in the oven - cut the recipe in half and it filled three loaf pans. No citron - the citron chunks in fruitcake are the devil’s gummy bears. Meant to make my own candied orange and lemon peel but ran out of time, so I had to use the gross corn-syruped lemon stuff and couldn’t even find orange peel. But I figured that the antebellum housewife had to make do, so it’s period. There are a LOT of dried currants in it. Seriously, a LOT. ---
**Author:** ![Rayne\_Man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/df705f/32.png) [@Rayne\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rayne_Man)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2009, 8:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-this-civil-war-era-recipe-use-fresh-currants-or-dried/515343/39 "2009-12-06T08:22:42Z")
> [@Zsofia](#): > > If anybody’s interested, I just put it in the oven - cut the recipe in half and it filled three loaf pans. No citron - the citron chunks in fruitcake are the devil’s gummy bears. Meant to make my own candied orange and lemon peel but ran out of time, so I had to use the gross corn-syruped lemon stuff and couldn’t even find orange peel. But I figured that the antebellum housewife had to make do, so it’s period. > > There are a LOT of dried currants in it. Seriously, a LOT. Were those “dried currants” vine fruits, or where they the red/black current (ribe) sort? ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2009, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-this-civil-war-era-recipe-use-fresh-currants-or-dried/515343/40 "2009-12-06T14:31:41Z")
I used the raisin-ish ones. (Frankly, I don’t know where I’d have found the others anyway.) It’s interesting. I’m taking it to the boyfriend’s live show taping today to see if anybody will eat it. I’d really call it “currant cake” rather than fruitcake, I think - that’s what dominates. It’s quite dense and you’d expect it to be less-sweet like a coffee cake, but it sort of is and sort of isn’t. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-this-civil-war-era-recipe-use-fresh-currants-or-dried/515343.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-this-civil-war-era-recipe-use-fresh-currants-or-dried/515343.md?page=3)