FoodFood InformationFruit
According to the Old Testament story, one of the first things Noah didafter the ark landed was to plant a vineyard, proof that people have beenenjoying grapes both as a fresh fruit and as wine since biblical times.
There are hundreds of varieties of grapes. Some are seedless but most haveseeds, as did the original wild grapes. Grapes come in three skin colors:red, white (green), and blue. Some varieties have round berries, othershave elongated ones. Some grapes are quite large, others are quite small.All grapes grow on vines and flourish in temperate climates in both theNorthern and Southern Hemispheres. There are two basic types of grapes:the American and the European.
The American type, which is called the Labrusca, is native to NorthAmerica. Leif Ericson is said to have called this continent Vinland becauseof its abundance of wild grapes. The earliest colonists found wild grapesthriving up and down the Atlantic Coast. The American grapes cannot be identifiedby shape, size, or color, but by their skin type. They have slip skins thatare easily separated from the flesh of the grape. The seeds, however, areembedded and cling to the fleshy pulp.
The most common American variety is the blue-skinned Concord. Thereis also the red Catawba, the white (amber) Niagara, and the pink Delaware.Most of the Labrusca grapes are produced in the Northeast and Midwest, butsome are also grown in the Pacific Northwest.
These slip-skin grapes have a fine aroma, a musky, semisweet flavor, andare pulpy in texture. Only a small portion of the slip-skin varieties issold as table grapes. Nearly all of the supply is sold to commercial processorsof jelly, jam, grape juice, and sacramental wine. The American grapes arein season for only two or three months during the fall and they are quitefragile. At one time, when putting up homemade jelly was in vogue, a fairsupply of Concord grapes was sold to consumers. Today, only a limited amountreaches the retail marketplace. As yet, none of the American-type grapesare imported from the Southern Hemisphere in the off-season.
The European type, which is known as the Vinifera grape, originatedin Asia Minor. Seeds of this type of grape, dating back some five thousandyears, have been unearthed in archaeological digs.
The Vinifera grapes are also identified by their skin type, rather thanby size or skin color. Instead of being slip skin, like the American grapes,their skin clings to the flesh of the fruit, and the seeds are fairly easilyseparated from the pulp. European grapes are produced in all of the grapegrowing areas of the world. In the United States, California is Europeangrape country and produces 98 percent of America's table grape crop. Ina recent year the crop exceeded 50 million twenty three pound boxes of tablegrapes and the supply barely met the demand. The ever growing popularityof table grapes is thanks to the efforts of the California Table Grape Commission,whose ad campaigns feature the flavor, nutritional value, and convenienceof their product. In the past ten years America's per capita consumptionhas almost tripled.
Fine table grapes are available at modest prices year round because oursupplies from California are augmented by imports in great quantity fromChile and in small quantity from South Africa. The California grape seasonextends from May through February. The Chilean season runs from Decemberthrough May.
The seedless varieties are far more popular than those with seeds. MostAmericans are either too busy or too lazy to mess with grapes that haveseeds, but in Europe, where the pace isn't quite as rapid, these grapesare highly regarded. They are served as a dessert fruit along with cheeseat the dinner table.
In North America, the grape is seldom used as a dessert fruit, but ratheras a snack. In most retail markets grapes with seeds just don't sell, evenif they are of better quality and are much lower priced than the seedlessones. Most of us are missing out on some very flavorful grapes because ofour aversion to seeds.
Tending vineyards requires intensive, backbreaking stoop labor, which cannotbe performed by machine. The fragile table grapes must be carefully cultivated,harvested, and packed by hand. The growers, in combination with the agriculturalschools, are constantly coming up with new varieties and improved know-howon producing superior grapes.
California also grows millions of tons of wine grapes, most of which aresold to wineries. A limited amount of these grapes are shipped to the largercities to satisfy the demand in some ethnic areas. These wine grapes arenot sold in supermarkets but by small neighborhood dealers. Making homemadewine is no game for a novice. Unless you have some expertise in wine making,buy your wine in a liquor store. You'll have a more flavorful, less costlyend product.
The raisin is our most important dried fruit and is produced by dryinggrapes in sunlight. Ninety-nine percent of our raisins are seedless, allof which are made from Thompson Seedless grapes. Golden-colored seedlessraisins are nothing more than regular raisins that have been bleached withsulfur dioxide.
Cluster raisins that have seeds and are attached to the stems aremade from Muscatel grapes. They used to be fairly popular in Grandma's era,but have all but disappeared from the marketplace.
Those tiny Zante currants that are used by bakers aren't really currants.They are tiny raisins made from the petite seedless black Corinth grapes.
When shopping for table grapes it is imperative to remember that thefruit doesn't ripen any further or improve in flavor after it has been severedfrom the vine. What you see, or better yet what you taste, if you are permittedto sample the grapes at the time of purchase, is what you get. The quickeryou use them the better-as they age they lose crispness and flavor.
Look for firm, plump, colorful, dry berries that are firmly attached topliable green stems. A professional buyer checks out the freshness of thegrapes by examining the amount of bloom on the berry. As discussed earlier,bloom is the name given to the waxy, powder like coating applied by MotherNature to protect the fruit from the direct rays of the sun. This coatingis more obvious on the darker-colored grapes, but it is also present, thoughnot as easily detected, on the light-colored varieties. The heavier thebloom, the fresher the grape. As the grape starts to age and break down(after one to two weeks), the bloom disappears. Color is very important,especially in the green varieties. The greener the grape, the lower thesugar content. The yellower the grape, the higher the sugar content. Redvarieties are at their best when the berries are predominately of high color.The darker the blue grapes, the better the quality.
Table grapes look fine as a centerpiece but will start to break down atroom temperature. They must be stored in your refrigerator immediately afterpurchase and kept there until just prior to use. The crispness and the flavorof the grapes are enhanced when they are fully chilled.
WHEN TO BUY: At peak (from United States): June through November
At peak (from Chile): February through May
WHAT TO LOOK FOR: Firm, plump, dry fruit
HOW TO STORE: Refrigerate immediately