What is the difference between raisans and sultanas?

Question

and currants!!!

Answer 1

Raisins are dried grapes. They can be eaten raw or used in cooking and baking. They are produced in many regions of the world, such as the United States, Australia, Chile, Argentina, Mexico, Turkey, Iran, and South Africa.

Raisins come in many varieties, depending on the type or varietal of grape that is dried. The seedless varieties include Thompsons, Flames, and Sultanas. Raisins are typically sun-dried, but may also be "water-dipped", or dehydrated. Currants are not made through using a different type of grape, but rather by drying repeatedly over and over again, each type being "re-hydrated". The final product is a large, juicier fruit. "Golden raisins" are treated with Sulphur Dioxide (SO2) to give them their characteristic color. This is a pure sulphide solution that enhances the flavour of the currant whilst giving it a golden appearance. However, it has recently been discovered that this may have damaging effects on the consumer's health. A particular variety of seedless grape, the Black Corinth, is also sun dried to produce Zante currants, mini raisins that are much darker in colour and have a tart, tangy flavour.

Raisins are often also categorized by their relative size. An intermediate size raisin is typically referred to as a select or a medium. Jumbo is the larger size, and midget is the smaller. However, in Australia, the generic term "raisin" also means it will be large in size.

Raisins are also produced in Greece, especially in the areas of Peloponessus, Crete and smaller islands. The main variety used in the Greek raisin is the sultana. The grapes are mostly sun-dried thus producing seedless raisins of average size and golden color. A notable exception to this rule is the grape variety cultivated especially for the purpose of raisin production in Corinthia that give darker and smaller type of raisin named Corinthian. Corinthian raisins are not seedless.

Raisins are very sweet due to the high concentration of their sugars, and if they are stored for a long period the sugar crystallises inside the fruit. This makes the fruit gritty, but does not affect their usability. To decrystalise raisins, they can be soaked in liquid (alcohol, fruit juice, or boiling water) for a short period, dissolving the sugar.

The Victorian parlour game called Snap-dragon involved raisins being plucked from a bowl of burning brandy

The sultana is a type of white, seedless grape of Turkish or Persian origin, as well as a type of raisin made from it; such sultana raisins are often called simply sultanas or sultanis. They are commonly used in South Asian cooking, where they are called Kishnish. These are typically larger than the currants made from Zante grapes but smaller than 'normal' raisins, and are noted for their sweetness and golden colour.[1]

The sultana grape (also called the sultanina or sultani) is cultivated in the United States under the name Thompson Seedless, named for William Thompson, a viticulturist who was an early grower in California (sometimes credited with the variety's introduction).[2] [3] According to the U.S. Code of Federal Regulations, the two names are synonymous.[4] Virtually all of California raisin production (approximately 97 percent in 2000) and roughly one-third of California's total grape acreage is of this variety, making it the single most widely-planted variety.[5][3]

Sources of confusion are that not all speakers of English make clear distinctions between different types of dried grapes (raisins, sultanas, currants), and that golden-coloured raisins made from other grape varieties may be marketed as sultanas. In addition, virtually all California raisins are produced from the sultana (or Thompson Seedless) grape, even those which, because of different drying processes, do not resemble the traditional sultana raisin. The term sultana is not commonly used to refer to any type of raisin in American English; as most American raisins are from sultana grapes, they are called simply raisins or golden raisins, according to colour. The latter, which at least in colour resemble the traditional sultana raisin, are artificially dried and sulfured, in distinction to `natural' raisins.[6] All non-organic sultana grapes in California and elsewhere are treated with the plant hormone gibberellin.

The sultana raisin was traditionally imported to the English-speaking world from the Ottoman Empire (hence the name sultana, from the feminine form of sultan) and Turkey and Australia are major producers.[7]

As well as serving as a snack food without further processing, sultana raisins are used in a variety of dishes, often prepared by soaking in water, fruit juice, or alcohol. The sultana grape is also used to make white wine, in which capacity it is known for sweet blandness.[2][3]

Answer 2

The word raisin covers any kind of dried grape. Sultanas are the dried white seedless grape.

Answer 3

What about currants?

Answer 4

red grapes -green grapes-
clearly Ivy owns a grape farm!

Answer 5

They are different types of fruit