[neilep (OP)]

Dear Dried Fruitlogists,

I'm confused !

See these Raisins ?

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Nice eh ?

Apparently all a raisin is , is a dried up grape !!

...so..what about these fellows ?


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Currants !


and these fine wrinkled balls of sweety joy !


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Sultanas !





Are they grapes too ?


What other fruits are there that enjoy jekyll/hyde nomenclaturial changes when dried ?


Ewe see...I just do not know !....perhaps I will soon !

Thanks


hugs and shmishes


Neil
Dried Up and Wrinkled In Parts

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[RD]

A Sultana is a Sultan's missus.
Thats all I know on the subject: I'm not very knowledgeable on currant affairs.

[DoctorBeaver]

Sultanas & currants are also types of grape.

[blakestyger]

A raisin is a dried black grape and a sultana is a dried white grape - and while I'm on, a prune is a dried plum.

[DoctorBeaver]

Mother Teresa was a dried plum!?  [:0]

[blakestyger]

Does that mean you're saying Mother Theresa was a prune? I don't get it - she was Albanian though.

[Andrew K Fletcher]

And if you have ever wondered what gives you bad wind at Christmas its these dried fruits in xmas pud, mince pies and Christmas cake. Possibly by fermentation of stomach contents due to yeasts present in them.

[Make it Lady]

I thought it was the already fermented grape in wine that gave you a bad stomach and head!

[Bored chemist]

Collectively known by EU decree as "dried vine fruits" these things often have wild yeasts growing on them.
Until you cook them.
Since Xmas pudding and cake are famous for keeping for ages I can't see how they are anything but very near sterile or sterile. Whether it's the liquor added after cooking or the heat of the cooking itself that kills the bugs I'm not sure (though my money would be on heat as the culprit) but by the time you are eating it, any yeasts that may have been present from the currants etc are long dead.
While I was writing this Make it Lady came up with an alternative explanation of the symptoms.

[blakestyger]

I'm sure it's the heat that kills the yeasts and moulds in Xmas puddings but they then have to be sealed in their bowl by that lovely layer of health-giving suet and that cloth that hung over the edge.
My mother used to make them 12 months in advance - in which time the insides became nearly black.

I don't think you had to use suet though - I think a flour and water paste did just as well.

[Andrew K Fletcher]

I suspect that the fruits may be fermented by the gut yeasts further to initiate it in the case of cooked fruits. However, there is no doubt that there is a connection between the fruits and excessive gas production in the gut for us at least.

Eating uncooked dried fruits has had me doubled over in agony with trapped wind. We were always told it was boiled vegetables that caused it. So we experimented with eating and abstaining from the products that contained the fruits and bingo we solved the problem We do still indulge with the odd fruit cake or even a toasted tea cake and still confirm the connection.

BC's observations are valid, however when brewing beer for example a heat process kills the bugs in the natural sugars from the plants just as heat kills the natural yeasts in the fruit providing a sterile gateway for yeast invasion from the gut to produce rapid fermentation of both fruit and sugars found in the food.

Blakestyger's and BC's point about the length of time some of these products can remain on a shelf and mature like a good cheese may also play a part.

We were right about Bisto gravy granules too BTW. No more IBS for wifey since we gave this product the elbow.

[neilep (OP)]

A Sultana is a Sultan's missus.
Thats all I know on the subject: I'm not very knowledgeable on currant affairs.

 []

[neilep (OP)]

Sultanas & currants are also types of grape.

Types of grape eh ? Thanks Doctor Eth

So what what would we call a dried shriveled Grape Ape ?

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[neilep (OP)]

A raisin is a dried black grape and a sultana is a dried white grape - and while I'm on, a prune is a dried plum.

Kewl !!!......A prune is a dried plum !..Thanks blakestyger....cripes !..I think I prefer my plums juicy !


Hang on !....I wonder why ewe can purchase Prune juice and not plum juice !!

[neilep (OP)]

And if you have ever wondered what gives you bad wind at Christmas its these dried fruits in xmas pud, mince pies and Christmas cake. Possibly by fermentation of stomach contents due to yeasts present in them.

Thanks Andrew !!....so the last thing that anybody wants is to be stuck in a lift with a bunch of people and just Christmas cake to eat !! []

[neilep (OP)]

I thought it was the already fermented grape in wine that gave you a bad stomach and head!

As a tea-totaller I suppose I'll never know  this ! *le sigh*

[neilep (OP)]

Collectively known by EU decree as "dried vine fruits" these things often have wild yeasts growing on them.
Until you cook them.
Since Xmas pudding and cake are famous for keeping for ages I can't see how they are anything but very near sterile or sterile. Whether it's the liquor added after cooking or the heat of the cooking itself that kills the bugs I'm not sure (though my money would be on heat as the culprit) but by the time you are eating it, any yeasts that may have been present from the currants etc are long dead.
While I was writing this Make it Lady came up with an alternative explanation of the symptoms.

Does this mean that a coating of fruit cake could be a good way to extend the longevity of food outside freezing/canning and vacuum sealing ?