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Black Currants
The Black Currant is a woody bush or shrub, from 3 to 5 feet in height (900 cm to 1.5 metres), that thrives in damp woods. Goats like eating the leaves, and bears like eating the berries. (Presumably bears would also like eating the goats, if the goats were too preoccupied with the leaves). It is a native of Europe.
They have a good deal of pucker power when unsweetened, so are usually used cooked.
The French liqueur, "Cassis", is made from it.
Cooking Tips
Wash by swishing in a bowl of water. Drain in a colander, remove stems.
Nutrition
100 g Black Currants: 28 calories, 200mg Vitamin C.
Black Currants contain three times as much vitamin C as oranges, and good amounts of vitamin B6, vitamin E, potassium, copper and soluble fibre.
Equivalents
1 pound = 450 g = 2 to 2 1/2 cups
4 oz = 115 g = 3/4 cup
Storage
Store unwashed in a plastic bag in the fridge for up to 4 days. Freeze for up to 1 year.
History
Black Currant bushes can act as a host for a blister rust that affects white pine trees. Their cultivation was consequently banned federally in the United States in 1906. Though the federal ban was withdrawn in 1966, many American states still ban it where white pine timber is still important economically. Connecticut withdrew its ban in 1983; New York State in 2003 (before the banning started in 1906, New York State had been the top Black Currant producer in America.)
As of 2005, Black Currant bushes are still banned in Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia.
No ban was ever placed on cultivating Black Currant bushes north of the border in Canada.
Also called:  Quinsy Berries Ribes nigrum (Scientific Name) Cassis (French) Schwarze Johannisbeeren (German) Ribes neri (Italian) Grosellas negras (Spanish)
See Also
Cassis
Other entries for Currants
Black Currants
Other entries for Berries
Akala Berries, Aronia Berries, Assai Berries, Baba Berries, Barberries, Bilberries, Black Gooseberries, Blackberries, Blueberries, Buffalo Currants, Bumbleberries, Cape Gooseberries, Cloudberries, Cranberries, Currants, Elderberries, Garden Huckleberries, Gooseberries, Haw Flakes, Hawthorne Berries, Huckleberry, Hudson Bay Currants, Jostaberries, Lingonberries, Mulberries, Otaheite Gooseberry, Raspberries, Red Currants, Saskatoon Berries, Sea Buckthorn, Serendipity Berries, Strawberries, Sunberries, Tayberries, Thimbleberries, Ugni, Waimate Berries, White Currants, Wineberries, Wonderberries, Worcesterberries
Other entries for Soft Fruit
Cherries, Grapes
Other entries for Fruit
Bananas, Bletting, Candied Fruit, Citrus Fruit, Dried Fruit, Drupes, Hard Fruit, Olives, Rhubarb
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