"BlackCurrants" news and stories

Have you seen shiny red and black currants at the greenmarket but don't know what to do with them?

Tomato on the vine. Photo: Mrs. Gemstone, Flickr

• Tomato fans, beware: A new fungus is ravaging Northeast plants and could cause a sharp price increase.
  
• "Bronx Flavor," a new public-access show, showcases local eateries with extra flair such as Bollywood dance numbers and drag races.
• Summer-friendly South American Sauvignon Blancs.
• Wondrously tart black currants loaded with Vitamin C are now hitting farmers' markets.
  
• Patacón Maracucho: a Venezuelan sandwich in which plantains are used in lieu of bread.
• Queens' Tortillería Nixtamal is the place to get traditional Mexican masa.
• Go Greek with a recipe for Cashew Pilaf, mix chicken with peaches or whip up some Moroccan Tomato Soup.

I always wondered why we here in the UK only ever see French Cassis for sale. OK so the products we see are of excellent quality (generally) but why, considering the proliferation of blackcurrants across the UK do we never see a British produced version?

Then I found one.

BritishCassis is a family owned company based on the Hereford-Welsh border and are now producing cassis. They have been growing blackcurrants for three generations and claim that the British blackcurrant has higher levels of anti-oxidents than 'usual' versions. They produce versions with gin and also with dark rum - both of which I would love to try - as well as the 'straight' version. Prices start at around £14 retail.

Source

Researchers aren't exactly sure how or why, but recent studies have shown promising results for using black currants to stave off the onset of Alzheimer's. Black currants, boysenberries and blackberries get their dark colors from anthocyanins, a type of antioxidant flavonoid that seems to have protective effects on lab-cultured brain cells as well as cells taken from human brains. Researchers have reason to believe that similar effects could take place within the human body. According to press release from the publisher of The Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture, British black currants are bred to be darker in color and therefore more potent with anthocyanins.