# Please help: What are sultanas & aubergines? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 7, 2005, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-what-are-sultanas-aubergines/288820 "2005-02-07T15:56:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2005, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-what-are-sultanas-aubergines/288820/1 "2005-02-07T15:56:13Z")
Sultanas = raisins. Aubergines = eggplant. Is this correct? What lingo is this? What mysterious country uses these words? Is it the Brits? ---
**Author:** ![LifeOnWry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/96bed5/32.png) [@LifeOnWry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LifeOnWry)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2005, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-what-are-sultanas-aubergines/288820/2 "2005-02-07T15:58:44Z")
I’m not sure about sultanas - I thought they were currants, rather than raisins - but you’re right about aubergines. Yes, that’s common British usage, but I suspect the word is French in origin. FTR: a courgette is what we Americans call a zucchini. ---
**Author:** ![anu-la1979](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/47e85d/32.png) [@anu-la1979](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anu-la1979)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2005, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-what-are-sultanas-aubergines/288820/3 "2005-02-07T15:59:20Z")
Aubergine is french. Sultanas I thought was British b/c it’s in my parents’ english language cookbooks they bought in India. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2005, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-what-are-sultanas-aubergines/288820/4 "2005-02-07T16:04:03Z")
> [@LifeOnWry](#): > > I’m not sure about sultanas - I thought they were currants, rather than raisins - but you’re right about aubergines. Yes, that’s common British usage, but I suspect the word is French in origin. > > FTR: a courgette is what we Americans call a zucchini. So what exactly is a currant? I thought it was a piece of bread. And thank you for the courgette, didn’t know that, either. ---
**Author:** ![rjk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ed655f/32.png) [@rjk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjk)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2005, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-what-are-sultanas-aubergines/288820/5 "2005-02-07T16:16:15Z")
It may be just Canadian usage, but I always thought sultanas were only the ‘golden raisins’. I don’t know if the British use it for black raisins as well. Currants aren’t raisins at all, but some sort of berry. (I have no idea where you got bread. 😕) They look like small raisins, and taste pretty similar to me. ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2005, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-what-are-sultanas-aubergines/288820/6 "2005-02-07T16:21:07Z")
In Australia, they have currants, sultanas and raisins. All are dried grapes, buy probably come from different kinds – currants are the smallest, and raisins are the largest, while sultanas seem to be made from green rather than purple grapes. I don’t know enough about dried grapes in othercountries. ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2005, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-what-are-sultanas-aubergines/288820/7 "2005-02-07T16:21:52Z")
> [@Anaamika](#): > > So what exactly is a currant? [Currants](http://www.hort.cornell.edu/extension/commercial/fruit/mfruit/gooseberries.html) ---
**Author:** ![Jenaroph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e8c25b/32.png) [@Jenaroph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jenaroph)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2005, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-what-are-sultanas-aubergines/288820/8 "2005-02-07T16:23:12Z")
So Rene Auberjonois is Rene Eggplant? ---
**Author:** ![owlstretchingtime](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/958977/32.png) [@owlstretchingtime](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/owlstretchingtime)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2005, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-what-are-sultanas-aubergines/288820/9 "2005-02-07T16:26:19Z")
British food terms thread # 1687454105698 😃 A sultana is a dried grape ie what you tea-dodgers call a raisin (we also use this word) A currant is a dried blackcurrant ( a hedgerow berry). We put these in spotted dick (they’re the spots). An aubergine is an egg-plant (but we’re quite scared of these, they’re a bit “exotic” for us) Zucchini = Courgette Dill pickle = Gherkin What you call beer we call lemonade 😛 We also have very different ideas about things like biscuits and gravy. You wouldd’t want a hob-nob with your gravy! ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2005, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-what-are-sultanas-aubergines/288820/10 "2005-02-07T16:31:51Z")
> [@rjk](#): > > It may be just Canadian usage, but I always thought sultanas were only the ‘golden raisins’. I don’t know if the British use it for black raisins as well. > > Currants aren’t raisins at all, but some sort of berry. (I have no idea where you got bread. 😕) They look like small raisins, and taste pretty similar to me. Don’t sweat it dear, I am confused too. Where did I get bread? 😕 Anyway, my Indian recipe book asked for sultanas & aubergines, and I guessed from the pictures. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2005, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-what-are-sultanas-aubergines/288820/11 "2005-02-07T16:38:44Z")
Currants, raisins and sultanas are all [grapes](http://www.bhg.com.au/food.nsf/Content/bhg_article_driedfruit_dec03). ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2005, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-what-are-sultanas-aubergines/288820/12 "2005-02-07T16:41:22Z")
Addendum: Raisins are black, sultanas are white (light tan, anyway). We don’t use either word to refer to the other. ---
**Author:** ![owlstretchingtime](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/958977/32.png) [@owlstretchingtime](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/owlstretchingtime)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2005, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-what-are-sultanas-aubergines/288820/13 "2005-02-07T16:52:07Z")
> [@don't ask](#): > > Currants, raisins and sultanas are all [grapes](http://www.bhg.com.au/food.nsf/Content/bhg_article_driedfruit_dec03). Nope. Not in the bit of blighty I’m from anyway. Raisins and sultanas are grapes (Raisins are little and black, sultanas bigger and lighter coloured) What we call currants are blackcurrants - we make jam out of them and also put them in puddings like spotted dick (as I say, they are the “spots” in spotted dick). There may be a regional difference in terminology (this happens a lot with food in Britain - never mind the rest of the Empire and foreign parts). The word “pudding” for example has many many meanings. ---
**Author:** ![LifeOnWry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/96bed5/32.png) [@LifeOnWry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LifeOnWry)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2005, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-what-are-sultanas-aubergines/288820/14 "2005-02-07T17:02:44Z")
By the by, one of our local grocery stores has “international” items, and I found a Heinz spotted dick in a can. I bought it on a dare and heated it up per the instructions on the can, and I must say it was rather yummy. Sort of a mild spice cake with raisins and not at all weird. Next I’m going to try… oh damn, I can’t remember the exact name. Brickston pickle? SOMETHING pickle, anyway. So, when I DO get it, any advice as to what to put it on? ---
**Author:** ![LifeOnWry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/96bed5/32.png) [@LifeOnWry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LifeOnWry)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2005, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-what-are-sultanas-aubergines/288820/15 "2005-02-07T17:04:10Z")
:smack: Branson pickle? ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2005, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-what-are-sultanas-aubergines/288820/16 "2005-02-07T17:04:39Z")
> [@Jenaroph](#): > > So Rene Auberjonois is Rene Eggplant? No. Aubergine is French, via Catalan by way of Arabic from the Persians. But Auberjonois is not coming out of that. ---
**Author:** ![owlstretchingtime](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/958977/32.png) [@owlstretchingtime](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/owlstretchingtime)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2005, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-what-are-sultanas-aubergines/288820/17 "2005-02-07T17:07:48Z")
> [@LifeOnWry](#): > > By the by, one of our local grocery stores has “international” items, and I found a Heinz spotted dick in a can. I bought it on a dare and heated it up per the instructions on the can, and I must say it was rather yummy. Sort of a mild spice cake with raisins and not at all weird. Next I’m going to try… oh damn, I can’t remember the exact name. Brickston pickle? SOMETHING pickle, anyway. So, when I DO get it, any advice as to what to put it on? You should try it with Ambrosia tinned custard (the spotted dick not the pickle) The pickle is Branston Pickle and its fabulous - its a tangy sweeet and sour mixed vegetable pickle - it’s crunchy too. It goes best with cheeses and cold meats. I couldn’t live without it - not could a lot of Brits. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2005, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-what-are-sultanas-aubergines/288820/18 "2005-02-07T17:14:13Z")
I worked with a fellow from South Africa who couldn’t believe that Americans didn’t know what a “sultana” was. I told him we only had “golden raisins” here – I never saw “sultanas” for sale in any American store. Great name, though. “Sultanas” sounds much more exotic than “Golden Raisins”. Just like I’d rather use a “Torch” than a “Flashlight” (I’ve never understood that word) Of course, there are cases where I prefer the Americanism to the Britishism. ---
**Author:** ![LifeOnWry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/96bed5/32.png) [@LifeOnWry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LifeOnWry)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2005, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-what-are-sultanas-aubergines/288820/19 "2005-02-07T17:23:32Z")
> [@owlstretchingtime](#): > > You should try it with Ambrosia tinned custard (the spotted dick not the pickle) > > The pickle is Branston Pickle and its fabulous - its a tangy sweeet and sour mixed vegetable pickle - it’s crunchy too. It goes best with cheeses and cold meats. > > I couldn’t live without it - not could a lot of Brits. So how do you eat it, exactly? It looks to me like a smooth paste or sort-of-jam. Do you spread it on something? Eat forkfuls in between cheese bites? ---
**Author:** ![chique](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4491bb/32.png) [@chique](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chique)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2005, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-what-are-sultanas-aubergines/288820/20 "2005-02-07T18:54:41Z")
> [@owlstretchingtime](#): > > What you call beer we call lemonade 😛 Ooh ooh ooh…that brings up another question! Your lemonade is fizzy and artificially flavored and comes in cans. What do you call the stuff made out of lemon juice and sugar and water? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-what-are-sultanas-aubergines/288820.md?page=2)