Europe didn't really have to make the same choice, as European pines were fairly resistant, having co-evolved. Also, the ban on blackcurrants in the US probably wasn't that effective as there are several plants, widespread in America, of the same genus as blackcurrant, that host exactly the same fungus. :)
This reminds me of a genuine conversation I had with an American colleague who came over to the UK for work and we had Skittles in the office. Her: why do these skittles taste weird? Me: they taste normal to me Her: no the grape ones taste different Me: grape ones?? There are no grape ones, those are blackcurrant Her: ..... do you mean blackberry? Me: no, blackcurrant Her: ..... do you mean red currant? Me: no, blackcurrant Her: ...that's not a fruit
Not 'merican? It doesn't exist!! Whadya mean the rest of the world isn't 'merican? That doesn't exist either!! The other countries you may think are figments brought on by too many Ogla Nuts. (If you get the obscure reference you'll get the joke)
It's actually a similar story for grapes. Most "grape" flavored items in North America come from the Concord grape, a grape native to North America. It was banned from Europe for a long time because it interbred with wine grapes and changed the taste of the wines. Concord grapes make good but not great wine and are much better for eating, juicing, and turning into Jams.
Thanks because it was bothering me not having an explanation for why grape disappeared from Europe as if grape and black currant can't coexist in the same place 😂😂
Black currents have a classic “berry” flavor profile with a tart cranberry-like effect. A bit more complex than a blackberry. A blackberry is juicy, light, and summery- whereas a currant is puckery, deep, and wintry.
Yea I was gonna say the closest thing to it I could describe it as from the one time I've had it was like Cranberries. It sort of feels like trying to explain what Root Beer tastes like to someone whose never had that.
Blackcurrant is kind of like a musky black cherry flavor. I love it! I'm 60, and when I was a kid in the late 60's, my grandmother had hard candies and one of the flavors was blackcurrant. Then she stopped getting them and I didn't have any blackcurrant sweets until around 2013 or so, when I started to get imported British sweets at my local World Market. Man, I missed that flavor!
@@DrSarcasmo you know, you just reminded me that in the 70s, I used to buy little tins of imported candies from a company called we la Vosgiennes, and one of their flavors was cassis, or blackcurrant. My favorite was framboises. 😏☺
Blackcurrant topping on cheesecake is the bomb. The tartness of the blackcurrant opposed to the sweetness of the cheesecake is almost perfect, a good real vanilla ice cream makes it even better.
We have a blackcurrant bush in our garden and we yielded over 5 KG from one bush.. we make our own blackcurrant Vodka . and cordial ( juice ) and I make ice cream..it’s bloody amazing and I’m not ashamed to say it..🤣🇬🇧
The flavour is much stronger than grape, it's rich with a tangy tartness, usually sweetened to the point there's no bitterness. Grape flavour sweets always seem to be a bit anaemic.
Cold - It tastes of a warm sunny saturday morning, whilst learning to rollerskate in 1976, whilst carefully avoiding Dad's new Morris Marina in the driveway of a suburban semi detached house, whilst waiting for Grandstand to start. But hot, it also tastes of lying in bed on a freezing january night, with a bunged up nose and a cough, listening to Villa winning away to Barcelona on a faint and crackely transistor radio under the sheets.
I had a very long conversation with a confused barman in New York when I asked for a Guinness and Black. Apparently not only do Americans not know what blackcurrant is, they also don't know what cordial is. Me trying to explain it to him was difficult, I may as well have being giving him instructions to build a rocket
As an American who has been a bartender for 20 years, and a personal fan of both black currants and Guinness, I have to say that even I wouldn’t know what a Guinness and black is. That’s a shame, bc it sounds amazing! I certainly know what a cordial is, and most bartenders do as well, tho we use the term liqueur usually. So, do you mix black currant liqueur with Guinness to make Guinness and black? Or is it something different?
@@ltraina3353 yeah exactly that, a Guinness with a dash of black currant ( or nearest alternative) cordial poured in on too. Give a try honestly, tastes like liquid ice cream or something 😂
Since grape comes in purple, red, and white at maturity, as a US American, my answer would then have to be Mulberry. The Red Mulberry turns a dark purple when it is ripe. It is sweet-tart to sweet. It looks like an elongated blackberry, but is far more delicate. That is the description of Purple.
@@laurie7689 I don’t know where you live, but my Kroger has an international section. Down on the bottom shelf in the UK section I found a dusty bottle of Ribena blackcurrant juice.
Fellow Canadian here of a more advanced age. We had both blackcurrant and gooseberry bushes in our backyard and still do, so I’m very familiar with both. I literally just finished eating toast with home made blackcurrant jam and have gooseberries in the freezer to be made into jam. I also love gooseberry pie.
hey do your gooseberries taste sweet? family has always grown them, they are always sour, and everyone ive ever spoke to who has grown them said they are sour but I go to my butchers the other month and he is selling punnets of them, so I get a box and they were the sweetest fruit ive ever had like a cross between a kiwi and a grape nothing like the taste im used to
@@randomcow505 The variety we have tend to be very tart but get a bit sweeter as they get more purple. I don’t pick them all at once but pick them over a week or two by selecting them as they get more colour. I like a certain amount of tartness, sort of like rhubarb.
if you've not had it, try gooseberry crumble with custard, it's delicious, you can also make crumble with blackcurrant, cooking apples (often bramley apples here, but granny smith might be the equivalent in Canada?) or rhubarb, likely plenty of other options too, but the tartness of those with the sweetness of the crumble and the custard is to die for
In case no-one else has mentioned it, creme de casis (which of course is French for blackcurrant) liquer is available pretty much everywhere including the US and Canada and its delicious in a Kir Royale cocktail.
Yep, I grew up in Montreal and sirop de cassis and crème de cassis were my first exposure to blackcurrants. I never had a fresh one until I moved to the UK though
Ribena just tastes like childhood. :) For almost all Brits born in the last 50 or so years, their first soft drink would have been Ribena. Highly diluted in a sippy cup as a toddler, then later, in a carton with a little straw that you would, inevitably, push too far into the carton and lose. Ribena is liquid nostalgia. :)
I knew the US didn't have blackcurrant, but had no idea why not. Thanks for the history lesson. Just so you know Black currants have high levels of manganese, which is an important mineral for helping to control blood sugar level. Manganese may aid in proper insulin secretion and help level out blood sugar for people with type 2 diabetes. I sprinkle them on my porridge in the morning.
False, blackcurrants are literally grown in the US...I'm British, but I'm staying with an American friend and just had a homemade blackcurrant pie... it's more common on the east coast then the West, so since ignorant people like you tend to think Western US somehow represents the ENTIRE US it makes sense you don't realise that the US is really a lot different in every region
@@tevarinvagabond1192 what are you talking about as someone from the western us, the "default" us is usually in the east. just look at a population map as for why
@@tevarinvagabond1192 I am 20 and have lived in the state of Virginia as long as I can remember, right on the east coast. Never tasted a blackcurrant before, and I’ll admit I had no idea what they were for the longest time
I remember buying grape flavoured water in the US, just off the plane. My British self thought 'oh, that's unusual, must be such a nice, delicate flavour' (imagining Schloer but lighter as it was still water, so expecting a 'hint of' grape). What I tasted was (to me) unidentifiable but VERY sweet flavoured water.
I made the mistake of buying a grape “juice” in the us. I nearly threw up, it was a concentrated artificial grape flavor. Looking at the bottle there was like only 2% of fruit in it…
@@n0rmal953 There are good grape juices in the US too. The grapeaids though depend. They do have some grape "jooce" made from "froot" that does taste a bit like ye old black currant but they call it sour grape here. I suspect they are fruticose, sucrose, malic acid, and methyl anthranilate mainly and not a good copy, but artificial stuff can taste good too if you did not go in expecting something else.
@@foreverhungry84 Yeah blackberries are more a forage fruit than a garden fruit (since they grow in amongst brambles, and most people would actively remove any bramble they found to be growing in their garden). It used to be an annual tradition in my family for my parents to to take us to a nearby park around September or so, and have us scrabbling in the wooded areas picking through the brambles collecting blackberries, which my dad would then wash and freeze, providing us with a supply for the rest of Autumn and Winter to go, usually with bramley apples, in the pies he made, or just in a pan as stewed fruit.
When I was a young teenager, sometime in the late 1980s, there was a short-lived sparkling fruit juice drink that had a blackcurrant flavor. I loved the stuff but it stopped appearing at the local supermarket after I'd only had two or three four-packs (my parents didn't have a lot of money, so it was an occasional treat), maybe six months total available. I'd almost forgotten it even existed. So I'm in that 0.1% of Americans who have tasted blackcurrants. EDIT: a bit of judicious googling reveals that it was Sundance Juice Sparklers.
I've enjoyed anything blackcurrant flavoured ever since I was a kid, especially drinks like Ribena. The flavour of blackcurrant to me has a rich, juicy dimension to it quite different to other fruits, and that's what makes it special!
I love Ribena, unfortunately Ribena doesn't like me. Within 10 minutes of drinking a glass of Ribena my stomach starts to gurgle, and its really uncomfortable.
Blackcurrant tastes like a mix between brambles and raspberries with a perfume undertone . We Brits also had Delrosa Rosehips after WW2 for Vit C deficiency .The UK Government set up the Delrosa Rosehip syrup factory and Children up and down Britain was paid to gather Rosehips and if you gathered lots you got a enamel badge .Delrosa Vans collected the harvest and paid the Children. Boffins discovered Rosehips had way more Vit C than Citrus fruits. It was free at Clinics but you could also buy it Delrosa syrup tastes like the best Turkish delight ever .
I used to love ribena. Now it has artificial sweeteners and is, like many things, on my "lost forever" list. Artificial sweeteners and I don't get on, they taste like I've been licking a rusty drainpipe. Thanks crappy parents that brought on the sugar tax law due to your incompetent parenting. I refuse to pay extra for the only soft drinks I can tolerate, so it's beer all the way now.
@@eddiegaltek I stayed with a friend, they made cottage pie. My stomach was all over the place, turns out they had proudly used Hendersons not Worcestershire sauce as they were from Sheffield. Turns out it contains artificial sweeteners, really should be a listed allergens. If I taste it, I immediately stop. If I don't taste it then the bathroom is mine for the night.
Actually there are some states in the US that permit the growing of black currants ,like New York ,Illinois , Minnesota and Oregon. The ban was considered archaic by 1966 but states have been slow to change and given that generations of Americans have never known about black currants it takes time to get familiarized with the new fruit. There is a grower in New York who has been marketing black currant in everything from danish to alcohol.
How do they survive the winter without Ribena and boiling water, especially when they have a cold ? Or the summer without Ribena and lemonade ? No wonder they get so angry and run to the gun shop.
You can buy Ribena in Ontario Canada. I buy a bottle of concentrate every winter. Also when I was a child in the 1960's my neighbour had a black currant bush in her garden and she made black currant jam.
Absolutely. Who days for the expensive bubbly when squash goes so well with lemonade. I thought that such an indulgence as a kid. Ditto with hit water. As an adult? I'm probably more of a kid with these things.
It's actually commonly available here now. As a British expat living in the USA, I am so glad I can get my Robinson's blackcurrant squash at my local Ingles. Head to the International section of most stores. Even Walmart carries Ribena now, thank goodness!
Europe made a good choice. I love black currants...fresh black currants. They are always on my shopping list.blackcurrants contain a lot of anti oxidants. Ribena always reminds me of my childhood 😊
The UK even sells blackcurrant flavoured liquid paracetamol for children. In The Netherlands we also have a fizzy drink called cassis. It's essentially fizzy Ribena. And in France there's a very nice liquor called Creme de cassis.
I grew up on a farm in Ontario Canada and we had red and blackcurrants growing with our blackberries and raspberries behind our shed naturally. We put them in pies, cakes and tarts.
Yeah, the US has them too...don't know why people are acting like it's foreign to Americans lmao. I'm British but have been in the US for awhile now, and literally just had a blackcurrant pie the other day that was homemade from ingredients gotten locally
Here in New Zealand We call fruit juice concentrate cordial. I remember when I was a kid Ribena also made other flavour juices (my fav was apricot) this was to my knowledge imported from the UK. Nowadays New Zealand produces a lot of blackcurrants, my favourite brand is Barkers blackcurrant and raspberry cordial (comes in a glass bottle which is a bit nicer because you can reuse them). This was a super interesting video and I'm glad I clicked on it.
i'm from australia and interestingly most purple sweets and lollies are grape flavoured but we also have blackcurrant as well. most exposure australians probably have to blackcurrants is apple-blackcurrant juice. interestingly grape fanta is quite rare to find in australia. I personally have never eaten a actual blackcurrant fruit. but i do love the flavour, anything 'forest fruits' is usually blackcurrant and other assorted berries.
I've definitely had black currant jam (California girl here) but it's something you only find occasionally in specialty shops. Great history lesson on the reasons why!
I used to get black currant juice boxes from a local international food market and I loved them. Never knew the history behind this! Thank you for bringing this to light again!
I used to love rum and black back in my youth. Had a local policeman worried when he found me throwing up after a session as he thought it was blood! 🤣🤣🤣🤣
When I was a teenager going out at the weekends with my friends sometimes involved sneaking in our own bottles of gin, vodka, rum etc at one of the various drinking establishments we used to frequent and just order a pint of blackcurrant cordial each and lace it with our respective drinks. The bar staff must have known what we were doing because towards the end of the night we were all pisse as newts on nothing but a few pints of blackcurrant cordial! We also used to drink 'cider and black' which was basically a pint of cider with a dash of blackcurrant in it and if we were feeling particularly devilish it would be a 'snakebite and black', which is half cider, half lager and a dash of blackcurrant. Apparently that's called a 'Diesel' these days.
In the 1960,s Blackcurrents were picked by hand here in Kent. I remember going Blackcurrent picking with my mum on school holidays in east Kent. Now its automated.
I'm an American who is well acquainted with Black Currant flavoured things but then I lived near Hong Kong (you know, the Ex-British Colony place) for 14 years plus living in the UK for two years I certainly got to know them Great video as always
Learnt a few new things today. I like blackcurrant. They are quite sour but paired with something sweet makes for a great combination. Such as apple & blackcurrant crumble, with a nice vanilla custard. So good.
Thank you, Marcus, for introducing me to Ribena! When we lived in Belgium, we had a glass bottle of blackcurrant squash in the refrigerator; we mixed it with water to our own tastes.
One of my strongest childhood memories is of the tinned blackcurrants sold as a pie-filling. In combination with my mother's pie-crust, the perfect end to a Sunday lunch!
I was pleasantly surprised to see Ribena in my American grocery store. It doesn't cost much more than it does in the UK. I always have a bottle on-hand.
They called blackcurrants the forbidden fruit in the US. However I grew up as a Canadian with eating blackcurrants. We even had them growing in our backyard.
As a first generation Canadian with two British parents, I grew up with Ribena in the house as a treat. You could get it in a normal grocery store but it wasn’t cheap!
Ribena is part of growing up here in the UK. I love black currant flavour everything. Ribena has a lovely viscosity to it, it’s a very round silky mouth feel drink.
As an American who hates grapes and loves berries, imagine my pleasant surprise when my UK friend gave me a little purple candy to try, and instead of being the dreaded grape flavor I was expecting, it was in fact a very nice blackcurrant boiled sweet. Wish we had a lot more blackcurrant and a lot less artifical grape over here!
I had no idea that blackcurrant wasn't a thing in North America. You learn something every day. I knew grape was a popular flavour but never thought of it as a sort of replacement.
Go to the jam aisle in any American supermarket, notice the area completely given over to dark purple jars of jams and jellies, then look at the labels. None are printed blackcurrant. They mostly say Concord grape (and maybe some blueberry and blackberry).
Here in Scotland the native Scots pine coveres 11.6% of forest land, and the total amount of native woodland was estimated as being 3,980 km2, we also have the equivalent of 700 football pitches of land dedicated to growing blackcurrants,if the land is managed properly then there shouldn't be a problem with growing both,obviously the Americans were doing something wrong,another entertaining and informative video,thank you
I grew up on a small farm in the US southwest, in the 70's, and our farm had several currant bushes. I remember eating the berries during the summer when they ripened and my friends and I discovered that the skin on the berries are what made them bitter. Needless to say we didn't have the time or energy to sit and skin such tiny berries.
I spent 3 months in Britain and fell in love with the flavor. My advice for Americans looking for it: - Look in the jams and preserves sections. Occasionally, you come across one here. - Look in the international aisle. Ive found Ribena here once or twice that way. Expensive, and not my favorite incarnation of the flavor tbh, but sometimes you can find squash that way. - Some places have specialty Irish/Scottish/Celtic stores. They often have a small food section behind all the wool and jewelry, and often at least one food item/candy is blackcurrant. - Some specialty bakeries have them, and/or specialized tea parlours. As for the flavor, I feel like I describe currants as tasting a bit like a combination of a raspberry, a blueberry, with the vague background echoes of citrus. Red currants are also fun if you can find something for that
Guinness and black (ie blackcurrant) is a popular combination as well. It’s a perfect flavour balance with the very bitter Guinness and the sweet, fruity blackcurrant.
I learned to appreciate both red currants and black currants in Europe in 1963. Now I enjoy black currants from a bush in my garden. I enjoyed this video, thanks.
When I was a kid I went to church in Australia where Dr Harrison was an elder. He was the scientist that invented the black current concentrate. In WW2 they had tons of crops building up. No-one was willing to ship currents, blackberries and a dozen other crops to the colonies though a gauntlet of German submarines. So Dr Harrison and others at the British Department of Agriculture had to find uses for them. He was the one that measured the vitamin C levels and suggested the solution you mentioned. He saved millions. Even the Germans in north Africa traded POW's for the stuff. There is another part to the story. Citrus is acidic so if you have chapped lips you can't drink it. Too painful. The British and commonwealth forces had Israeli citrus but could not use it. Black current juice is not acidic so it was prioritized for north Africa. Some did not make it; there is a boat load of canned black current juice, and other food, on the Mediterranean sea bed.
I missed black currants so much when I moved to Canada and I bought a couple of bushes as soon as I got a garden. They grow beautifully here too and I get all the jams and pies I need to satisfy my black currant cravings.
Don't you have anyone to send them over to you? I, like you, swapped countries and here I am surrounded by blackcurrants and am wishing all the while for my lovely grape flavors. 🥺 If you don't have anyone to send you stuff perhaps we can talk? Weird saying that as a stranger on social media, sorry. I would be happy to help tho. I'm on Facebook ☺️
@@Julia-uh4li When my family visits they know to pack a bottle of Vimto, a jar of pickled onions and a bag of jelly babies. It makes them that much more of a special treat (and when I run out it's obviously time for the folks to visit again ;)
When I was a kid in the late 1970s, if I was ever sick, my mum would give me Ribena. The idea of it being a health drink was clearly ingrained! In fact, it used to be advertised as a 'health drink', until controversy over the sugar content forced Ribena to drop that. Modern Ribena is usually sugar-free. Has a very unique taste, even among blackcurrant drinks.
I live in Quebec and we do have Black currants here and we do have products made with Black currants but I know about it from a different name. The name we use here is Cassis... which is the French translation of black currants. So yeah it is availlable in Quebec and it's quite nummy. As for the taste... yeah like you said it tastes purple. It's tart and deep in flavor. It's more flavorful than Blueberry. I would say it's like blueberries had a child with gooseberries. Creme of Casis is available in all of Canada and the USA so yeah I think you can find it if you look for it.
Loved this and the history of blackcurrant, I'm English and never thought about Ribena and where the name actually came from. Do more of this please :)
Here in the states, Ribena can sometimes be found in the "International" aisle of larger grocery stores like Kroger or Harris Teeter. There's also Creme de Cassis, a blackcurrant liqueur carried by upscale liquor stores.
As a side note, blackcurrant is called "solbær" in Norway, or 'sun berry' in English. The concentrate mixed with hot water is used for throat relief during a cold, or for some, used instead of hot chocolate.
Interesting that there was no mention of blueberries! Whenever I eat a blueberry muffin I think to myself, why did they use this bland fruit when they could have used blackcurrants?
American blueberries ARE real blueberries. They’re just quite bland. It has nothing to do with the way they’re grown. There is another variety/species of blueberry, called European blueberry, or bilberry. And these are much more fragrant and have much darker flesh. They are picked by hand from (and grow on) low bushes, especially in Northern Europe. They’re very hard to cultivate, so I guess that’s why the Americas chose the other type. Both are healthy though.
Yes I was thinking that, but thats because UK blueberries are very bland. In the US Ive had blueberries that are really strong and tart, similar to blackcurrants. So yes I think blueberries are similar (though not UK ones).
Yeah, there are two kinds of blueberries, two very different plants. We call the big one (big plants, big fruits) American. The small one are dark and have so much color that it's very easy to get everything red. If you eat dumplings with those blueberries/bilberries, you'll look like Dracula after a snack. And they're much less sweet, much more sour, and much more intense. I don't think it's comparable to blackcurrant in fresh form but to the juice, sure, maybe. I don't think they are really produced commercially all that much - one acre of it gives you way less fruit than one acre of American blueberries. But all the "jahodzianki" (sweet pastry with Eiropean/forest blueberry) and dumplings must be done with it. Though, recently I've eaten one and it had cherries alongside blueberries to lower the price wihout losing much flavour (European blueberries are quite expensive - though frankly, American ones too).
😬 Blackcurrant tastes like blackcurrant, just like Irn Bru tastes like Irn Bru, or Coca Cola tastes like Coca Cola. If you go to the world foods section of a big Tesco, you might find some grape flavoured candies there. As for the raw blackcurrants you had, I would usually use them to bake a blackcurrant crumble.
I live in California, and have lived here all my life. Thanks to Delia Smith, I heard about them, and now I have 3 currant bushes growing in my back yard.
I’ve never vomited from drinking alcohol in my life, but once when I was around 11 years of age I spent all my remaining “tuck shop” money on cartons of Ribena during a school organised trip and proceeded to chug them all back to back. I still vividly remember how I projectile vomited 90% of it back up
American here. I've known and loved black currant from childhood. The astringency of the fruit is not a flavor that most Americans would like immediately, but it's definitely one they would come to like. Despite the laws against black currants, my grandmother had them growing in her garden... of course, there aren't a lot of white pines in southeast Idaho and not a lot of reason to look for them on an out-of-the-way rural farm. She used to make jam and sauces from them. Vanilla ice cream with spiced black currant sauce is still one of my favorites. She also made zucchini bread with the jam in the batter. FYI - medicinally, black currant is great. They're very high in anti-oxidants (including vitamin C) that boost your immune system and help prevent cancer, and gamma-linoleic-acid that helps reduce inflammation from things like rheumatoid arthritis. The anthocyanins (the stuff that makes them purple) helps treat glaucoma. Also, they're high in soluble fiber, which slows your digestion so your gut can absorb more nutrients, helps prevent the buildup of toxins, and reduces your risk of colon cancer. Finally, they're high in manganese, which is important for controlling blood sugar levels by aiding proper insulin secretion and helping to level out blood sugar for people with type-2 diabetes.
Back in the day of old British sailors were found to suffer from scurvy a lot , especially on long journeys, then someone found that citrus fruits kept it at bay , so limes were made part of the provisions for the journeys …hence that why the Brits are often referred to as “Limeys” by foreigners…
Not quite accurate.... Lemons were found to protect against scurvy and folk started using them, scurvy went away. Then along came the expansion of the British empire which went hand in hand with faster ships and the commodification of limes. So the Royal navy swapped in limes as they were cheaper and kept better and the limey name started. And scurvy stayed away so all good limes work great. Except.... they didn't work at all. The faster ships were disguising that fact. It didn't become totally clear what was wrong untill Capt. Scott's exhibition died..... of scurvy and just after vitamin C was discovered.
Apart from the fact that it wasn't just British sailors who suffered from scurvy and limes were too expensive so we used lemons instead so really we should have been called 'Lemonies'. Most Americans don't realise that when they call us 'Limeys' they aren't insulting us but actually acknowledging our superiority!
Scurvy or lack of vitamin c was a serious problem for sailors before the benefits of citrus fruits were discovered. If they were away from land long enough they would start loosing their hair, then get severe joint pains, their teeth falling out and eventually death. Captain Cook on his voyages of exploration around the world took sauerkraut aka pickled cabbage with him to prevent scurvy. The ordinary sailors were very reluctant to eat the pickled cabbage, so Cook got his officers to pretend that the pickled cabbage was a delicious treat when they had their meals. The sailors ate the pickled cabbage and kept scurvy at bay after that.
Fun fact if I remember correctly. Most of the Magellan crews died of scurvy on the voyage. Little did they know that the cargo they were transporting back to Europe, capers if they had only eaten it would of saved their lives and prevented scurvy. At that point in history Scurvy was a mystery.
@@B-A-L My understanding is that limes were a mistake, as lemons were called limes in the Caribbean ... eventually the mistake was corrected and the navy used the cheaper and correct lemons (?!). Please correct me if anyone knows the full story...
"Here in the UK they say squash.." is only accurate as regards people who shop for the product/s. Retailers and even pubs/bars will pretty much refer to it as 'cordial.'
American here. I grew up with red currents. Mom would make a jam, I loved it. Gooseberry pies & jam. Unfortunately, mom sold the farm & no more jams. We also had huckleberry for jams & cake. Love this channel, keep up the good work. God bless & be safe. ❤️🙏🇺🇸
Hey Alanna. What a great and unusual topic. It explains why I could never find them over in the States. I love blackcurrants, whether it's some kind of juice, jam or whatever. I can't feel sorry for Americans and Canadians not having them - more for me. 😁 Ribena is kinda like a different flavoured grape juice, which makes sense to me but it's as close as I can get.
Blackcurrant is pretty big in NZ too. we have Ribena, and other brands of what we would call blackcurrant 'cordial', not squash... sweet, and to be mixed with water. I feel like Blackcurrant is a bit more of a grown up taste, like cranberry perhaps, as it retains some of that tartness, through the sweetness of the added sugar. Blackcurrant jam is pretty big here too. I'm nearly 60, and growing up there were American culture things that I had really no experience of until I was maybe 20 ish. Blueberries were not a thing here at all (or at least I never came across them IRL, despite hearing about blueberry muffins etc.) The other one that comes to mind was Pistachio. I remember Ernie on Sesame Street talking about Pistachio Ice cream. I had no idea what it was. Very exotic!
In the UK there used to be some wonderful blackcurrant toffees called "Toffos".Tragically they were discontinued. Bring them back! Great news that America is abandoning it's shockingly racist anti-blackcurrant policy and is now allowing them into the country! lol :)
@@MasterGhostf Er...... yes, that was a joke? Sorry you found it confusing: maybe you're just not a fun guy? lol I'm well aware of the fungus problem with blackcurrants (that's one word btw). Best wishes to you anyway, my dear fellow! :)
Fun fact: In Germany white pines are blacklisted as invasive species. Professional cultivation of blackcurrant in Germany is decreasing, maybe due its low yield (less than half per hectare as with redcurrant), but in total the area cultivated with black currant is still about the same as for red currant. It is used mostly for drops, juice (mostly mixed with other flavors) and jam (often mixed with red or white currant), and it is the main ingredience for Crème de cassis liqueur (cassis being the french name for blackcurrant). A new variant is the Jostaberry, a complex-cross from blackcurrant (Schwarze _Jo_hannisbeere in German), European gooseberrry (_Sta_chelbeere in German) and American black gooseberry - a bit milder than blackcurrant, bigger, but less berries as well as bigger plants.
Pas du tout @Roger’s Ramblings. We could argue you’re equally deprived of the singular deep purple flavour of Concord grapes. And unlike blackcurrants, they have the advantage of being enjoyably edible in their form as a fresh fruit. They’re also available in the form of wine from Mogen David. Admittedly I don’t think they’re available as a topping for cheesecake or ice cream. But I would choose blueberries or strawberries for that pleasure anyway.
On my childhood home garden we had a number of black currant bushes. Every fall we gathered the currants and steamed them into a juice that was bottled for the winter time needs. The memorable use was as sort of herbal tea, especially when we got a sore throat. Now here in the US, I am able to purchase some imported black currant preserves. I have understood that is possible, because the prohibition only applies to seeds. But of course very few people know what you and I are even talking about...
We do have grape juice in the UK. At the branch of Sainsbury's I use they put it next to the grapefruit juice. if that isn't a recipe for disaster, I don't know what is. Incidentally, you have the most compelling personality of any I've seen on RUclips.
Black current preserves on a toasted baguette with sweet cream butter, black current reduction sauce on roasted venison and cassis liquor mixed with dry white wine are amazing. I like chokecherries and gooseberries too. I'm American btw and can only get these by growing/picking them myself. Nature's grocery store is the best!
I used to collect Blackcurrants from the wild. For my mother to bake homemade blackcurrant pies. I ate so many whilst collecting them. Along with Wimberries.
Wow interesting! I LOVE grape stuff but never really see it in the UK but when I'm abroad I enjoy especially the grape smoothies. It did cross my mind that there was a difference but didn't look into it. Thank you for exploring and explaining x
When I was little the local bakery did small blackcurrant tarts with cream on top. Lovely, crumbly sweet pastry. The currents were not overly sweetened and the blackcurrant syrup/jelly ran out as you ate it. They also cooked the most delicious oven bottom barmcakes (breadcakes)and sold the best roast ham you have ever tasted. So roast ham barm followed by blackcurrant tart was a favourite treat meal
I'm canadian. In Alberta (western Canada), black currents are popular. My mom has a bush, and we have them at our community garden. I regularly make tea with the leaves and making jam is very popular at garden markets. It's news to me that other people don't know about it.
Here in estonia blackcurrants are also very popular, blackcurrant tea made with its leaves is among my fav things, its really suprising how much flavour the leaves have. We also use them in pickling cucumbers
The smell from the Tiptree jam factory is something to behold. Well worth a visit to the tearoom there, and I think they also do tours around the factory.
Tea with blackcurrant leaves, blackcurrant jam and fresh blackcurrant with milk and sugar eaten like a soup - my whole childhood. The healthiest berry in every northern or eatern European garden. Strawberries may be more popular but they are less versatile.
I have a lovely Blackcurrant bush in my garden and the best thing ever is to eat straight from the bush. I am from Tiptree, home of Wilkin's Jam maker to the Royal Family. (I am married to a Canadian, lived in Canada for 6 years, have canadian citizenship and been back in UK for 15 years)
Where I live you can find black currant in chocolate, jam, and dried for baking occasionally. There's also sometimes stuff at the liquor store that has it.
Have always loved currants. Used to grow them in the back yard. Later, I used to buy red and black currant jelly from the local Soviet store (yes they sold novelties from the CCCP in Nebraska USA)
So here in europe, we get blackcurrants and white pine trees? Drinking ribena hot in winter is wonderful. When I was training as a swimmer, I'd get a hot 'bena after training. And blackcurrant jam on toasting the morning. Sometimes you just need sugar.
I live in British Columbia, and my neighbors have a black currant orchard. They pay my kids to pick them every summer and most of the crop goes into wine. Northern Lights Estate “Cassis Noir”, to be specific :)
as a midwesterner, we had a red currant bush in the yard.. but I didn't really know of black currant until early adulthood when I started bartending and was introduced to cassis liqueur.. its delicious over papaya mousse
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My grandmother used to give me ribena diluted with lemonade as a child.
Europe didn't really have to make the same choice, as European pines were fairly resistant, having co-evolved. Also, the ban on blackcurrants in the US probably wasn't that effective as there are several plants, widespread in America, of the same genus as blackcurrant, that host exactly the same fungus. :)
Btw, blackcurrant cheesecake for the win! :)
Ribena tastes like… VICTORY 😜🧐😎
keeping us up too date on current currant events
This reminds me of a genuine conversation I had with an American colleague who came over to the UK for work and we had Skittles in the office.
Her: why do these skittles taste weird?
Me: they taste normal to me
Her: no the grape ones taste different
Me: grape ones?? There are no grape ones, those are blackcurrant
Her: ..... do you mean blackberry?
Me: no, blackcurrant
Her: ..... do you mean red currant?
Me: no, blackcurrant
Her: ...that's not a fruit
😂
That is so typically American. If it doesn't exist in America it doesn't exist anywhere else!
Bless them.....
Not 'merican? It doesn't exist!! Whadya mean the rest of the world isn't 'merican? That doesn't exist either!! The other countries you may think are figments brought on by too many Ogla Nuts. (If you get the obscure reference you'll get the joke)
I've had the exact same conversation.
It's actually a similar story for grapes. Most "grape" flavored items in North America come from the Concord grape, a grape native to North America. It was banned from Europe for a long time because it interbred with wine grapes and changed the taste of the wines. Concord grapes make good but not great wine and are much better for eating, juicing, and turning into Jams.
Thanks because it was bothering me not having an explanation for why grape disappeared from Europe as if grape and black currant can't coexist in the same place 😂😂
@@lizziemitchell7886 grapes are grown everywhere in Europe, why would you think they disappeared.
@@philipocallaghan are you just answering comments without watching the videos they’re under 🤣
@@lizziemitchell7886 nope I watched it two weeks ago, looks like I understood it better than you!
@@philipocallaghan you clearly need this so i'll give it to you buddy. i got my quesiton answered before you chimed in 😂
We have grape snacks in the UK. It’s called wine!
I prefer the more refined form of brandy, or cognac
schloer
Nice one!!
And I refer to Shiraz as Aussie Ribena 🤣🤣🤣
@@Arbaaltheundefeated or grappa
Black currents have a classic “berry” flavor profile with a tart cranberry-like effect. A bit more complex than a blackberry. A blackberry is juicy, light, and summery- whereas a currant is puckery, deep, and wintry.
Yea I was gonna say the closest thing to it I could describe it as from the one time I've had it was like Cranberries. It sort of feels like trying to explain what Root Beer tastes like to someone whose never had that.
Blackcurrant is kind of like a musky black cherry flavor. I love it! I'm 60, and when I was a kid in the late 60's, my grandmother had hard candies and one of the flavors was blackcurrant. Then she stopped getting them and I didn't have any blackcurrant sweets until around 2013 or so, when I started to get imported British sweets at my local World Market. Man, I missed that flavor!
So you're saying blackberry tastes like fish and currant tastes like ham?
@@StrangersIteDomum More that blackberry pairs well with fish and blackcurrant pairs well with ham.
@@DrSarcasmo you know, you just reminded me that in the 70s, I used to buy little tins of imported candies from a company called we la Vosgiennes, and one of their flavors was cassis, or blackcurrant. My favorite was framboises. 😏☺
Blackcurrant topping on cheesecake is the bomb. The tartness of the blackcurrant opposed to the sweetness of the cheesecake is almost perfect, a good real vanilla ice cream makes it even better.
My favourite 😁
Got to agree there ! 👌
My favourite cheesecake! :)
We have a blackcurrant bush in our garden and we yielded over 5 KG from one bush.. we make our own blackcurrant Vodka . and cordial ( juice ) and I make ice cream..it’s bloody amazing and I’m not ashamed to say it..🤣🇬🇧
@@tiggerwood8899 Mine too!
The flavour is much stronger than grape, it's rich with a tangy tartness, usually sweetened to the point there's no bitterness. Grape flavour sweets always seem to be a bit anaemic.
As a Brit, I'd describe Ribena as tasting like "childhood". Never fails to put a smile on my face when I have a drink of it.
and Vimto too for me
😋 Ribena and lemonade 😋
Unfortunately, it's not the same since they put sweetners in it. Shame, because I did love Ribena.
@@davidcramb5793 you can still get the full fat stuff in places 👍
Cold - It tastes of a warm sunny saturday morning, whilst learning to rollerskate in 1976, whilst carefully avoiding Dad's new Morris Marina in the driveway of a suburban semi detached house, whilst waiting for Grandstand to start. But hot, it also tastes of lying in bed on a freezing january night, with a bunged up nose and a cough, listening to Villa winning away to Barcelona on a faint and crackely transistor radio under the sheets.
I had a very long conversation with a confused barman in New York when I asked for a Guinness and Black. Apparently not only do Americans not know what blackcurrant is, they also don't know what cordial is. Me trying to explain it to him was difficult, I may as well have being giving him instructions to build a rocket
As an American who has been a bartender for 20 years, and a personal fan of both black currants and Guinness, I have to say that even I wouldn’t know what a Guinness and black is. That’s a shame, bc it sounds amazing!
I certainly know what a cordial is, and most bartenders do as well, tho we use the term liqueur usually. So, do you mix black currant liqueur with Guinness to make Guinness and black? Or is it something different?
@@ltraina3353 yeah exactly that, a Guinness with a dash of black currant ( or nearest alternative) cordial poured in on too. Give a try honestly, tastes like liquid ice cream or something 😂
*poured on top
I'm sorry, any bartender should know what cordial is. Literally their job.
How old was he, that may have had something to do with his lack of knowledge?
In college, we were given the exercise "Describe the colour Purple to a blind person".
One group came up with the one word answer "Ribena".
Since grape comes in purple, red, and white at maturity, as a US American, my answer would then have to be Mulberry. The Red Mulberry turns a dark purple when it is ripe. It is sweet-tart to sweet. It looks like an elongated blackberry, but is far more delicate. That is the description of Purple.
@@laurie7689 Ribena……… 😂
@@Radders100 Never heard of Ribena in the USA.
@@laurie7689 I know but my British ears can’t hear anything but ribena 🤣
@@laurie7689 I don’t know where you live, but my Kroger has an international section. Down on the bottom shelf in the UK section I found a dusty bottle of Ribena blackcurrant juice.
Fellow Canadian here of a more advanced age. We had both blackcurrant and gooseberry bushes in our backyard and still do, so I’m very familiar with both. I literally just finished eating toast with home made blackcurrant jam and have gooseberries in the freezer to be made into jam. I also love gooseberry pie.
hey do your gooseberries taste sweet?
family has always grown them, they are always sour, and everyone ive ever spoke to who has grown them said they are sour
but I go to my butchers the other month and he is selling punnets of them, so I get a box and they were the sweetest fruit ive ever had
like a cross between a kiwi and a grape
nothing like the taste im used to
@@randomcow505 The variety we have tend to be very tart but get a bit sweeter as they get more purple. I don’t pick them all at once but pick them over a week or two by selecting them as they get more colour. I like a certain amount of tartness, sort of like rhubarb.
Gooseberries are great and I like black currents too.
Blackcurrant jam is the best
if you've not had it, try gooseberry crumble with custard, it's delicious, you can also make crumble with blackcurrant, cooking apples (often bramley apples here, but granny smith might be the equivalent in Canada?) or rhubarb, likely plenty of other options too, but the tartness of those with the sweetness of the crumble and the custard is to die for
In case no-one else has mentioned it, creme de casis (which of course is French for blackcurrant) liquer is available pretty much everywhere including the US and Canada and its delicious in a Kir Royale cocktail.
Yep, I grew up in Montreal and sirop de cassis and crème de cassis were my first exposure to blackcurrants. I never had a fresh one until I moved to the UK though
Ribena just tastes like childhood. :) For almost all Brits born in the last 50 or so years, their first soft drink would have been Ribena. Highly diluted in a sippy cup as a toddler, then later, in a carton with a little straw that you would, inevitably, push too far into the carton and lose. Ribena is liquid nostalgia. :)
I knew the US didn't have blackcurrant, but had no idea why not. Thanks for the history lesson. Just so you know Black currants have high levels of manganese, which is an important mineral for helping to control blood sugar level. Manganese may aid in proper insulin secretion and help level out blood sugar for people with type 2 diabetes. I sprinkle them on my porridge in the morning.
False, blackcurrants are literally grown in the US...I'm British, but I'm staying with an American friend and just had a homemade blackcurrant pie... it's more common on the east coast then the West, so since ignorant people like you tend to think Western US somehow represents the ENTIRE US it makes sense you don't realise that the US is really a lot different in every region
@@tevarinvagabond1192 She did say in the video they are grown in Upper New York State.
@@tevarinvagabond1192 what are you talking about as someone from the western us, the "default" us is usually in the east. just look at a population map as for why
@@tevarinvagabond1192 I am 20 and have lived in the state of Virginia as long as I can remember, right on the east coast. Never tasted a blackcurrant before, and I’ll admit I had no idea what they were for the longest time
@@ChestersonJack I have, doesn't taste the best.
I remember buying grape flavoured water in the US, just off the plane. My British self thought 'oh, that's unusual, must be such a nice, delicate flavour' (imagining Schloer but lighter as it was still water, so expecting a 'hint of' grape). What I tasted was (to me) unidentifiable but VERY sweet flavoured water.
I made the mistake of buying a grape “juice” in the us. I nearly threw up, it was a concentrated artificial grape flavor. Looking at the bottle there was like only 2% of fruit in it…
@@n0rmal953 that's called mass production and cheap quality.
I hate it....and often find myself importing certain specialty goods when affordable.
@@n0rmal953 There are good grape juices in the US too. The grapeaids though depend. They do have some grape "jooce" made from "froot" that does taste a bit like ye old black currant but they call it sour grape here. I suspect they are fruticose, sucrose, malic acid, and methyl anthranilate mainly and not a good copy, but artificial stuff can taste good too if you did not go in expecting something else.
a family favourite is apple and blackcurrant pie with custard. perfect winter food.
That's unusual. Apple and blackberry is more common.
@@TheEulerID its just what grew in my grannies garden, along with rhubarb and plums which were made into jam
@@foreverhungry84 Yeah blackberries are more a forage fruit than a garden fruit (since they grow in amongst brambles, and most people would actively remove any bramble they found to be growing in their garden). It used to be an annual tradition in my family for my parents to to take us to a nearby park around September or so, and have us scrabbling in the wooded areas picking through the brambles collecting blackberries, which my dad would then wash and freeze, providing us with a supply for the rest of Autumn and Winter to go, usually with bramley apples, in the pies he made, or just in a pan as stewed fruit.
When I was a young teenager, sometime in the late 1980s, there was a short-lived sparkling fruit juice drink that had a blackcurrant flavor. I loved the stuff but it stopped appearing at the local supermarket after I'd only had two or three four-packs (my parents didn't have a lot of money, so it was an occasional treat), maybe six months total available. I'd almost forgotten it even existed.
So I'm in that 0.1% of Americans who have tasted blackcurrants.
EDIT: a bit of judicious googling reveals that it was Sundance Juice Sparklers.
I've enjoyed anything blackcurrant flavoured ever since I was a kid, especially drinks like Ribena. The flavour of blackcurrant to me has a rich, juicy dimension to it quite different to other fruits, and that's what makes it special!
Ahh that's a great way of putting it!
I love Ribena, unfortunately Ribena doesn't like me. Within 10 minutes of drinking a glass of Ribena my stomach starts to gurgle, and its really uncomfortable.
Blackcurrant tastes like a mix between brambles and raspberries with a perfume undertone .
We Brits also had Delrosa Rosehips after WW2 for Vit C deficiency .The UK Government set up the Delrosa Rosehip syrup factory and Children up and down Britain was paid to gather Rosehips and if you gathered lots you got a enamel badge .Delrosa Vans collected the harvest and paid the Children.
Boffins discovered Rosehips had way more Vit C than Citrus fruits. It was free at Clinics but you could also buy it
Delrosa syrup tastes like the best Turkish delight ever .
I used to love ribena. Now it has artificial sweeteners and is, like many things, on my "lost forever" list.
Artificial sweeteners and I don't get on, they taste like I've been licking a rusty drainpipe. Thanks crappy parents that brought on the sugar tax law due to your incompetent parenting. I refuse to pay extra for the only soft drinks I can tolerate, so it's beer all the way now.
@@eddiegaltek I stayed with a friend, they made cottage pie. My stomach was all over the place, turns out they had proudly used Hendersons not Worcestershire sauce as they were from Sheffield. Turns out it contains artificial sweeteners, really should be a listed allergens. If I taste it, I immediately stop. If I don't taste it then the bathroom is mine for the night.
Actually there are some states in the US that permit the growing of black currants ,like New York ,Illinois , Minnesota and Oregon.
The ban was considered archaic by 1966 but states have been slow to change and given that generations of Americans have never known about black currants it takes time to get familiarized with the new fruit.
There is a grower in New York who has been marketing black currant in everything from danish to alcohol.
How do they survive the winter without Ribena and boiling water, especially when they have a cold ? Or the summer without Ribena and lemonade ? No wonder they get so angry and run to the gun shop.
You can buy Ribena in Ontario Canada. I buy a bottle of concentrate every winter. Also when I was a child in the 1960's my neighbour had a black currant bush in her garden and she made black currant jam.
ribena lemonade and vodka... fantastic
Dabe 1971 Boom - Boom ? All the best.Rab
@@juliewatts2117 Blackcurrant jam is the best 😋
Absolutely. Who days for the expensive bubbly when squash goes so well with lemonade. I thought that such an indulgence as a kid. Ditto with hit water. As an adult? I'm probably more of a kid with these things.
It's actually commonly available here now. As a British expat living in the USA, I am so glad I can get my Robinson's blackcurrant squash at my local Ingles. Head to the International section of most stores. Even Walmart carries Ribena now, thank goodness!
Europe made a good choice. I love black currants...fresh black currants. They are always on my shopping list.blackcurrants contain a lot of anti oxidants.
Ribena always reminds me of my childhood 😊
I’m from Norway, we use blackcurrant syrup with hot water as a ‘comfort toddy’ or when you have a cold - sometimes spiced with vodka.
A versatile fruit...Rum & Black, Cider & Blackcurrant, Pernod & Black, Creme de Cassis added to White Wine...there's a few to keep you going!
Put a spot in yr Guinness ‼️😊
Try a Diesel, which is snakebite (half cider/half lager) and black too!
The UK even sells blackcurrant flavoured liquid paracetamol for children. In The Netherlands we also have a fizzy drink called cassis. It's essentially fizzy Ribena. And in France there's a very nice liquor called Creme de cassis.
I grew up on a farm in Ontario Canada and we had red and blackcurrants growing with our blackberries and raspberries behind our shed naturally. We put them in pies, cakes and tarts.
Yeah, the US has them too...don't know why people are acting like it's foreign to Americans lmao. I'm British but have been in the US for awhile now, and literally just had a blackcurrant pie the other day that was homemade from ingredients gotten locally
Here in New Zealand We call fruit juice concentrate cordial. I remember when I was a kid Ribena also made other flavour juices (my fav was apricot) this was to my knowledge imported from the UK. Nowadays New Zealand produces a lot of blackcurrants, my favourite brand is Barkers blackcurrant and raspberry cordial (comes in a glass bottle which is a bit nicer because you can reuse them). This was a super interesting video and I'm glad I clicked on it.
The UK has cordial too. It’s not the same squash!
@@poodlemuffin yeah cordial is more of a syrup
I had a strawberry Ribena the other week for old time's sake!
Squash is a bit like cordial with the flesh from the fruit still in it.
I am English and love blackcurrant they grow around our wooded and hedgerow areas
Forgot to say they taste simalor to get currants
i'm from australia and interestingly most purple sweets and lollies are grape flavoured but we also have blackcurrant as well. most exposure australians probably have to blackcurrants is apple-blackcurrant juice. interestingly grape fanta is quite rare to find in australia. I personally have never eaten a actual blackcurrant fruit. but i do love the flavour, anything 'forest fruits' is usually blackcurrant and other assorted berries.
I've definitely had black currant jam (California girl here) but it's something you only find occasionally in specialty shops.
Great history lesson on the reasons why!
That's so cool!
//I've definitely had black currant jam//
blackcurrant ...one word. ;)
@@Martyntd5 gee thanks 👍 you're a pal
@@angelique_cs I didnt mean to be pedantic, it just jars to see it written as two words, liker straw berry or blue berry. :)
@@Martyntd5 fair enough
I used to get black currant juice boxes from a local international food market and I loved them. Never knew the history behind this! Thank you for bringing this to light again!
A traditional popular alcoholic drink in my grandmothers time was “Rum and Black (blackcurrant)”. Give it a try!
I used to love rum and black back in my youth. Had a local policeman worried when he found me throwing up after a session as he thought it was blood! 🤣🤣🤣🤣
I used to drink Pernod & Blackcurrant which was nice but word of warning dont be sick on anything fabric nearly impossible to get the stain off😀
I had a similar experience but it was due to pernod and blackcurrant
When I was a teenager going out at the weekends with my friends sometimes involved sneaking in our own bottles of gin, vodka, rum etc at one of the various drinking establishments we used to frequent and just order a pint of blackcurrant cordial each and lace it with our respective drinks. The bar staff must have known what we were doing because towards the end of the night we were all pisse as newts on nothing but a few pints of blackcurrant cordial! We also used to drink 'cider and black' which was basically a pint of cider with a dash of blackcurrant in it and if we were feeling particularly devilish it would be a 'snakebite and black', which is half cider, half lager and a dash of blackcurrant. Apparently that's called a 'Diesel' these days.
It's still popular and I love it.
In the 1960,s Blackcurrents were picked by hand here in Kent. I remember going Blackcurrent picking with my mum on school holidays in east Kent. Now its automated.
Just made blackcurrant jam using our own blackcurrants. Turns toast into an artform.
strawberry/blackcurrants/raspberry in that order of proportions is my go to diy jam.
@@besanit Sounds just about perfect.
I'm an American who is well acquainted with Black Currant flavoured things but then I lived near Hong Kong (you know, the Ex-British Colony place) for 14 years plus living in the UK for two years I certainly got to know them Great video as always
Learnt a few new things today. I like blackcurrant. They are quite sour but paired with something sweet makes for a great combination. Such as apple & blackcurrant crumble, with a nice vanilla custard. So good.
It's worth mentioning blackcurrants and blackberries are very different. 😎
Thank you, Marcus, for introducing me to Ribena!
When we lived in Belgium, we had a glass bottle of blackcurrant squash in the refrigerator; we mixed it with water to our own tastes.
One of my strongest childhood memories is of the tinned blackcurrants sold as a pie-filling. In combination with my mother's pie-crust, the perfect end to a Sunday lunch!
That was amazing. My favourite was the cherry pie filling though 😋
Pack-a-Pie! They still sell tinned pie fillings in Morrisons and Lidl, but I think you can mostly only find cherry or occasionally apple these days.
I was pleasantly surprised to see Ribena in my American grocery store. It doesn't cost much more than it does in the UK. I always have a bottle on-hand.
They called blackcurrants the forbidden fruit in the US. However I grew up as a Canadian with eating blackcurrants. We even had them growing in our backyard.
Wow, I’m surprised and very proud to be part of the .1%!! Tried black and red currents in Switzerland decades ago and have missed them ever since!
All hail the mighty Blackcurrant! 😂
Thank you Alanna for another of your lighthearted, fun and interesting videos ☺👍
As a first generation Canadian with two British parents, I grew up with Ribena in the house as a treat. You could get it in a normal grocery store but it wasn’t cheap!
Ribena is part of growing up here in the UK. I love black currant flavour everything. Ribena has a lovely viscosity to it, it’s a very round silky mouth feel drink.
As an American who hates grapes and loves berries, imagine my pleasant surprise when my UK friend gave me a little purple candy to try, and instead of being the dreaded grape flavor I was expecting, it was in fact a very nice blackcurrant boiled sweet. Wish we had a lot more blackcurrant and a lot less artifical grape over here!
You can also add some of the blackcurrant squash to a pint of cider to make the pub classic cider & black, the original fruit cider.
I had no idea that blackcurrant wasn't a thing in North America. You learn something every day. I knew grape was a popular flavour but never thought of it as a sort of replacement.
Go to the jam aisle in any American supermarket, notice the area completely given over to dark purple jars of jams and jellies, then look at the labels. None are printed blackcurrant. They mostly say Concord grape (and maybe some blueberry and blackberry).
Here in Scotland the native Scots pine coveres 11.6% of forest land, and the total amount of native woodland was estimated as being 3,980 km2, we also have the equivalent of 700 football pitches of land dedicated to growing blackcurrants,if the land is managed properly then there shouldn't be a problem with growing both,obviously the Americans were doing something wrong,another entertaining and informative video,thank you
I grew up on a small farm in the US southwest, in the 70's, and our farm had several currant bushes. I remember eating the berries during the summer when they ripened and my friends and I discovered that the skin on the berries are what made them bitter. Needless to say we didn't have the time or energy to sit and skin such tiny berries.
Yeah, I think of it as tannic bitterness, from the skins. I also had them growing up in the southwest!
I spent 3 months in Britain and fell in love with the flavor. My advice for Americans looking for it:
- Look in the jams and preserves sections. Occasionally, you come across one here.
- Look in the international aisle. Ive found Ribena here once or twice that way. Expensive, and not my favorite incarnation of the flavor tbh, but sometimes you can find squash that way.
- Some places have specialty Irish/Scottish/Celtic stores. They often have a small food section behind all the wool and jewelry, and often at least one food item/candy is blackcurrant.
- Some specialty bakeries have them, and/or specialized tea parlours.
As for the flavor, I feel like I describe currants as tasting a bit like a combination of a raspberry, a blueberry, with the vague background echoes of citrus. Red currants are also fun if you can find something for that
Guinness and black (ie blackcurrant) is a popular combination as well. It’s a perfect flavour balance with the very bitter Guinness and the sweet, fruity blackcurrant.
I learned to appreciate both red currants and black currants in Europe in 1963. Now I enjoy black currants from a bush in my garden. I enjoyed this video, thanks.
When I was a kid I went to church in Australia where Dr Harrison was an elder. He was the scientist that invented the black current concentrate. In WW2 they had tons of crops building up. No-one was willing to ship currents, blackberries and a dozen other crops to the colonies though a gauntlet of German submarines. So Dr Harrison and others at the British Department of Agriculture had to find uses for them. He was the one that measured the vitamin C levels and suggested the solution you mentioned. He saved millions. Even the Germans in north Africa traded POW's for the stuff.
There is another part to the story. Citrus is acidic so if you have chapped lips you can't drink it. Too painful. The British and commonwealth forces had Israeli citrus but could not use it. Black current juice is not acidic so it was prioritized for north Africa. Some did not make it; there is a boat load of canned black current juice, and other food, on the Mediterranean sea bed.
Was he an elder berry?😂
I missed black currants so much when I moved to Canada and I bought a couple of bushes as soon as I got a garden. They grow beautifully here too and I get all the jams and pies I need to satisfy my black currant cravings.
I miss blackcurrant so much. It's one of my biggest regrets about moving to the US
Same here, along with pickled onions and jelly babies.
Don't you have anyone to send them over to you? I, like you, swapped countries and here I am surrounded by blackcurrants and am wishing all the while for my lovely grape flavors. 🥺 If you don't have anyone to send you stuff perhaps we can talk? Weird saying that as a stranger on social media, sorry. I would be happy to help tho. I'm on Facebook ☺️
@@Julia-uh4li When my family visits they know to pack a bottle of Vimto, a jar of pickled onions and a bag of jelly babies. It makes them that much more of a special treat (and when I run out it's obviously time for the folks to visit again ;)
@@strayling1 Not together hopefully. 😊
🤣 not many regrets then. I move to the UK from Canada and one of my biggest regrets is not being at to access dill pickles 😭
Kentucky: local supermarket (Kroger) carries Ribena and the local Whole Foods carries pomegranate and blackcurrant San Peligrino.
My favourite part of a Friday - Alanna's words of wisdom . Great vid as always . 👌👍😂
Yay! Thank you!
Thank you for keeping us up to date with currant events
When I was a kid in the late 1970s, if I was ever sick, my mum would give me Ribena. The idea of it being a health drink was clearly ingrained! In fact, it used to be advertised as a 'health drink', until controversy over the sugar content forced Ribena to drop that. Modern Ribena is usually sugar-free. Has a very unique taste, even among blackcurrant drinks.
I live in Quebec and we do have Black currants here and we do have products made with Black currants but I know about it from a different name. The name we use here is Cassis... which is the French translation of black currants. So yeah it is availlable in Quebec and it's quite nummy. As for the taste... yeah like you said it tastes purple. It's tart and deep in flavor. It's more flavorful than Blueberry. I would say it's like blueberries had a child with gooseberries. Creme of Casis is available in all of Canada and the USA so yeah I think you can find it if you look for it.
Loved this and the history of blackcurrant, I'm English and never thought about Ribena and where the name actually came from. Do more of this please
:)
Me too. Thankfully has never come up in a pub quiz.
Here in the states, Ribena can sometimes be found in the "International" aisle of larger grocery stores like Kroger or Harris Teeter. There's also Creme de Cassis, a blackcurrant liqueur carried by upscale liquor stores.
blackcurrant for me always was like a perfect replacement for red wine. Sweet and sour, a bit tart, just perfect combo
As a side note, blackcurrant is called "solbær" in Norway, or 'sun berry' in English.
The concentrate mixed with hot water is used for throat relief during a cold, or for some, used instead of hot chocolate.
I can see why. I've always thought blackcurrants are pure sunlight. I used to pick them as a kid on hot sunny days. I never found them sour.
Hot blackcurrant is used for sore throats and as a hot drink in cold weather here in Ireland as well. Can’t imagine using grape instead of it.
Interesting that there was no mention of blueberries! Whenever I eat a blueberry muffin I think to myself, why did they use this bland fruit when they could have used blackcurrants?
Real blueberries are anything but bland. The genetically modified mass-farmed crap (that is also typically used in any bought food as well) is.
American blueberries ARE real blueberries. They’re just quite bland. It has nothing to do with the way they’re grown. There is another variety/species of blueberry, called European blueberry, or bilberry. And these are much more fragrant and have much darker flesh. They are picked by hand from (and grow on) low bushes, especially in Northern Europe. They’re very hard to cultivate, so I guess that’s why the Americas chose the other type. Both are healthy though.
Knock up a blueberry compote. Less than 15 mins, pour over your morning musili .. mmmm 😋😋
Yes I was thinking that, but thats because UK blueberries are very bland. In the US Ive had blueberries that are really strong and tart, similar to blackcurrants. So yes I think blueberries are similar (though not UK ones).
Yeah, there are two kinds of blueberries, two very different plants. We call the big one (big plants, big fruits) American. The small one are dark and have so much color that it's very easy to get everything red. If you eat dumplings with those blueberries/bilberries, you'll look like Dracula after a snack. And they're much less sweet, much more sour, and much more intense. I don't think it's comparable to blackcurrant in fresh form but to the juice, sure, maybe. I don't think they are really produced commercially all that much - one acre of it gives you way less fruit than one acre of American blueberries. But all the "jahodzianki" (sweet pastry with Eiropean/forest blueberry) and dumplings must be done with it. Though, recently I've eaten one and it had cherries alongside blueberries to lower the price wihout losing much flavour (European blueberries are quite expensive - though frankly, American ones too).
I'm Swedish and my grandmother had blackcurrant bushes and used to make blackcurrant cordial. So good.
😬 Blackcurrant tastes like blackcurrant, just like Irn Bru tastes like Irn Bru, or Coca Cola tastes like Coca Cola.
If you go to the world foods section of a big Tesco, you might find some grape flavoured candies there.
As for the raw blackcurrants you had, I would usually use them to bake a blackcurrant crumble.
Funny how all the world foods in that section are proper foods apart from the American section which is just junk food and breakfast cereal!
I live in California, and have lived here all my life. Thanks to Delia Smith, I heard about them, and now I have 3 currant bushes growing in my back yard.
I’ve never vomited from drinking alcohol in my life, but once when I was around 11 years of age I spent all my remaining “tuck shop” money on cartons of Ribena during a school organised trip and proceeded to chug them all back to back. I still vividly remember how I projectile vomited 90% of it back up
American here. I've known and loved black currant from childhood. The astringency of the fruit is not a flavor that most Americans would like immediately, but it's definitely one they would come to like.
Despite the laws against black currants, my grandmother had them growing in her garden... of course, there aren't a lot of white pines in southeast Idaho and not a lot of reason to look for them on an out-of-the-way rural farm. She used to make jam and sauces from them. Vanilla ice cream with spiced black currant sauce is still one of my favorites. She also made zucchini bread with the jam in the batter.
FYI - medicinally, black currant is great. They're very high in anti-oxidants (including vitamin C) that boost your immune system and help prevent cancer, and gamma-linoleic-acid that helps reduce inflammation from things like rheumatoid arthritis. The anthocyanins (the stuff that makes them purple) helps treat glaucoma. Also, they're high in soluble fiber, which slows your digestion so your gut can absorb more nutrients, helps prevent the buildup of toxins, and reduces your risk of colon cancer. Finally, they're high in manganese, which is important for controlling blood sugar levels by aiding proper insulin secretion and helping to level out blood sugar for people with type-2 diabetes.
Back in the day of old British sailors were found to suffer from scurvy a lot , especially on long journeys, then someone found that citrus fruits kept it at bay , so limes were made part of the provisions for the journeys …hence that why the Brits are often referred to as “Limeys” by foreigners…
Not quite accurate....
Lemons were found to protect against scurvy and folk started using them, scurvy went away. Then along came the expansion of the British empire which went hand in hand with faster ships and the commodification of limes. So the Royal navy swapped in limes as they were cheaper and kept better and the limey name started. And scurvy stayed away so all good limes work great. Except.... they didn't work at all. The faster ships were disguising that fact. It didn't become totally clear what was wrong untill Capt. Scott's exhibition died..... of scurvy and just after vitamin C was discovered.
Apart from the fact that it wasn't just British sailors who suffered from scurvy and limes were too expensive so we used lemons instead so really we should have been called 'Lemonies'. Most Americans don't realise that when they call us 'Limeys' they aren't insulting us but actually acknowledging our superiority!
Scurvy or lack of vitamin c was a serious problem for sailors before the benefits of citrus fruits were discovered. If they were away from land long enough they would start loosing their hair, then get severe joint pains, their teeth falling out and eventually death. Captain Cook on his voyages of exploration around the world took sauerkraut aka pickled cabbage with him to prevent scurvy. The ordinary sailors were very reluctant to eat the pickled cabbage, so Cook got his officers to pretend that the pickled cabbage was a delicious treat when they had their meals. The sailors ate the pickled cabbage and kept scurvy at bay after that.
Fun fact if I remember correctly. Most of the Magellan crews died of scurvy on the voyage. Little did they know that the cargo they were transporting back to Europe, capers if they had only eaten it would of saved their lives and prevented scurvy. At that point in history Scurvy was a mystery.
@@B-A-L My understanding is that limes were a mistake, as lemons were called limes in the Caribbean ... eventually the mistake was corrected and the navy used the cheaper and correct lemons (?!).
Please correct me if anyone knows the full story...
My mum grows blackcurrant bushes in her garden. Makes blackcurrant jam - it’s incredible, my favourite jam
"Here in the UK they say squash.." is only accurate as regards people who shop for the product/s. Retailers and even pubs/bars will pretty much refer to it as 'cordial.'
Depends where you are though. Most places I know just call it juice.
@@debbielough7754 in Scotland we mostly call it "diluting juice" but we know it's officially called squash
American here. I grew up with red currents. Mom would make a jam, I loved it. Gooseberry pies & jam. Unfortunately, mom sold the farm & no more jams. We also had huckleberry for jams & cake.
Love this channel, keep up the good work. God bless & be safe. ❤️🙏🇺🇸
Hey Alanna. What a great and unusual topic. It explains why I could never find them over in the States.
I love blackcurrants, whether it's some kind of juice, jam or whatever. I can't feel sorry for Americans and Canadians not having them - more for me. 😁
Ribena is kinda like a different flavoured grape juice, which makes sense to me but it's as close as I can get.
Blackcurrant is pretty big in NZ too. we have Ribena, and other brands of what we would call blackcurrant 'cordial', not squash... sweet, and to be mixed with water. I feel like Blackcurrant is a bit more of a grown up taste, like cranberry perhaps, as it retains some of that tartness, through the sweetness of the added sugar. Blackcurrant jam is pretty big here too. I'm nearly 60, and growing up there were American culture things that I had really no experience of until I was maybe 20 ish. Blueberries were not a thing here at all (or at least I never came across them IRL, despite hearing about blueberry muffins etc.) The other one that comes to mind was Pistachio. I remember Ernie on Sesame Street talking about Pistachio Ice cream. I had no idea what it was. Very exotic!
In the UK there used to be some wonderful blackcurrant toffees called "Toffos".Tragically they were discontinued. Bring them back!
Great news that America is abandoning it's shockingly racist anti-blackcurrant policy and is now allowing them into the country! lol :)
Fruit flavoured Toffos....mmmmm
I remember them.😋
anti racist? Black currants carried fungi that destroyed white pines. How is that racist?
@@MasterGhostf Er...... yes, that was a joke? Sorry you found it confusing: maybe you're just not a fun guy? lol
I'm well aware of the fungus problem with blackcurrants (that's one word btw).
Best wishes to you anyway, my dear fellow! :)
black currant candy is wonderful. I fell in love with it while i studied in london
Fun fact: In Germany white pines are blacklisted as invasive species.
Professional cultivation of blackcurrant in Germany is decreasing, maybe due its low yield (less than half per hectare as with redcurrant), but in total the area cultivated with black currant is still about the same as for red currant. It is used mostly for drops, juice (mostly mixed with other flavors) and jam (often mixed with red or white currant), and it is the main ingredience for Crème de cassis liqueur (cassis being the french name for blackcurrant). A new variant is the Jostaberry, a complex-cross from blackcurrant (Schwarze _Jo_hannisbeere in German), European gooseberrry (_Sta_chelbeere in German) and American black gooseberry - a bit milder than blackcurrant, bigger, but less berries as well as bigger plants.
An excellent example of colonial deprivation. There's only one way to consume grape juice and that's after the yeast has done its work. 🤣🤣
Pas du tout @Roger’s Ramblings. We could argue you’re equally deprived of the singular deep purple flavour of Concord grapes. And unlike blackcurrants, they have the advantage of being enjoyably edible in their form as a fresh fruit. They’re also available in the form of wine from Mogen David. Admittedly I don’t think they’re available as a topping for cheesecake or ice cream. But I would choose blueberries or strawberries for that pleasure anyway.
On my childhood home garden we had a number of black currant bushes. Every fall we gathered the currants and steamed them into a juice that was bottled for the winter time needs. The memorable use was as sort of herbal tea, especially when we got a sore throat. Now here in the US, I am able to purchase some imported black currant preserves. I have understood that is possible, because the prohibition only applies to seeds. But of course very few people know what you and I are even talking about...
The perfect sponge cake filling, blackcurrant jam and whipped double cream. AHH! Sunday afternoon tea.
We do have grape juice in the UK. At the branch of Sainsbury's I use they put it next to the grapefruit juice. if that isn't a recipe for disaster, I don't know what is. Incidentally, you have the most compelling personality of any I've seen on RUclips.
Black current preserves on a toasted baguette with sweet cream butter, black current reduction sauce on roasted venison and cassis liquor mixed with dry white wine are amazing. I like chokecherries and gooseberries too. I'm American btw and can only get these by growing/picking them myself. Nature's grocery store is the best!
I used to collect Blackcurrants from the wild. For my mother to bake homemade blackcurrant pies. I ate so many whilst collecting them. Along with Wimberries.
Wow interesting! I LOVE grape stuff but never really see it in the UK but when I'm abroad I enjoy especially the grape smoothies. It did cross my mind that there was a difference but didn't look into it. Thank you for exploring and explaining x
When I was little the local bakery did small blackcurrant tarts with cream on top. Lovely, crumbly sweet pastry. The currents were not overly sweetened and the blackcurrant syrup/jelly ran out as you ate it. They also cooked the most delicious oven bottom barmcakes (breadcakes)and sold the best roast ham you have ever tasted. So roast ham barm followed by blackcurrant tart was a favourite treat meal
I'm canadian. In Alberta (western Canada), black currents are popular. My mom has a bush, and we have them at our community garden. I regularly make tea with the leaves and making jam is very popular at garden markets. It's news to me that other people don't know about it.
Here in estonia blackcurrants are also very popular, blackcurrant tea made with its leaves is among my fav things, its really suprising how much flavour the leaves have. We also use them in pickling cucumbers
The smell from the Tiptree jam factory is something to behold. Well worth a visit to the tearoom there, and I think they also do tours around the factory.
Tea with blackcurrant leaves, blackcurrant jam and fresh blackcurrant with milk and sugar eaten like a soup - my whole childhood. The healthiest berry in every northern or eatern European garden. Strawberries may be more popular but they are less versatile.
I have a lovely Blackcurrant bush in my garden and the best thing ever is to eat straight from the bush. I am from Tiptree, home of Wilkin's Jam maker to the Royal Family. (I am married to a Canadian, lived in Canada for 6 years, have canadian citizenship and been back in UK for 15 years)
Where I live you can find black currant in chocolate, jam, and dried for baking occasionally. There's also sometimes stuff at the liquor store that has it.
American here, I knew about black currants, red ones too, and I love the black variety, mostly in confections but as a fruit as well.
I'm an American, and I absolutely love black currants. Found them while abroad and it's delicious.
This is one of those moments when I am grateful that I had a British mum and visited the UK as a child
Have always loved currants. Used to grow them in the back yard. Later, I used to buy red and black currant jelly from the local Soviet store (yes they sold novelties from the CCCP in Nebraska USA)
I love these kind of fact videos. As an Aussie we have both grape and blackcurrant. But I still couldn't describe the flavour of blackcurrants.
So here in europe, we get blackcurrants and white pine trees?
Drinking ribena hot in winter is wonderful. When I was training as a swimmer, I'd get a hot 'bena after training. And blackcurrant jam on toasting the morning. Sometimes you just need sugar.
I live in British Columbia, and my neighbors have a black currant orchard. They pay my kids to pick them every summer and most of the crop goes into wine. Northern Lights Estate “Cassis Noir”, to be specific :)
as a midwesterner, we had a red currant bush in the yard.. but I didn't really know of black currant until early adulthood when I started bartending and was introduced to cassis liqueur.. its delicious over papaya mousse