Sunday, May 1, 2011

Currants

I didn't know what to do with all the grapes from my vine. They're only little ones, but very flavoursome, so I decided to try turning them into raisins.

Firstly I washed them …



… then I picked them off the bunches …


… leaving this pile of twigs:


I spread them out on  an oven rack covered in muslin …


… and put them in the oven, set at 50°C on fan, to dry. I turned them over a few times during the two days it took, and I eventually ended up with …


… currants! Now I know what sort of grapes they are. I think in America they call these things Zante currants, but we just call them currants. They are probably the most expensive currants ever made when you take into account the electricity used to dry them, so I'll have to think of something extra special to do with them.

3 comments:

  1. Dear Bronwyn,
    I have been following your blog ever since my daughter travelled to NZ in '08. You are a very informative and cultural guide to NZ life. I hope that you continue to post, even though your interests may change! Please know that you have many (un-named) people following you in your adventures of curing, canning, and basically being a culinary teacher of frugality and best-use food practices. I admire you, and look forward to your posts. I'm American and a Californian, so thanks for all the informative uses of how to be creative! Please keep up the good work!!
    Stephanie

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  2. Why thank-you so much! Yes I will continue to post, although they're likely to be less frequent than they have been at times. There are several reasons for this: a)my wardrobe is full to bursting so I have to be very careful about buying new shoes, b)as I've said before, I'm trying to lose some weight, so am making fewer delicious things to eat, and c) after a while you tend to run out of new things to post about!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Bronwyn,

    I doubt (a)or(b)or even (c) will hinder your postings!

    ReplyDelete