Ingredient: Grapes
Category: Fruit
Season: All
The grape is one of the oldest and most lovingly cultivated fruits , and we all know why.
Much has been written in praise of wine, in contrast to the joys of the simple, unprocessed table grape (which, incidentally, accounts for a mere 10 per cent of world grape production).
In reality , white grapes vary from green to yellow and black grapes from pretty pink to nearly blue
Table grapes are grapes intended for consumption while they are fresh, as opposed to grapes grown for wine production, juice production, or for drying into raisins.
Depending on the market for wine and table grapes, low quality wine may contain some grapes that could also be sold as table grapes, particularly Thompson Seedless.
Other grapes sold as table grapes are Flame, Sultana, Muscat, and Concord grape.
There is a similar variation in size and flavour , from tiny seedless grapes (a favourite treat with children) to Muscat or Muscatel grapes (big and perfumed) and strange, straggly bunches of pinkish Italian grapes in autumn (often delicious, always cheap).
Grapes grown for the table are generally different to those used in wine-making – Muscat, Gamay and Tokay are exceptions – and to make one of those beautiful triangular clusters the growing fruit has to be carefully pruned, which adds to the expense.
Top-quality exports from South Africa have made this an all-year fruit.
Seedless grapes:
Seedless is a highly desirable subjective quality in table grape selection, and seedless cultivars now make up the overwhelming majority of table grape plantings.
Because, cuttings vegetatively propagate grapevines, the lack of seeds does not present a problem for reproduction.
It is, however, an issue for breeders, who must either use a seeded variety as the female parent or rescue embryos early in development using tissue culture techniques.
There are several sources of the seedless trait, and essentially all commercial cultivators get it from one of three sources: Thompson Seedless, Russian Seedless, and Black Monukka. All are cultivars of Vitis vinifera.
Contrary to the improved eating quality of seedless is the loss of potential health benefits provided by the enriched phytochemical content of grape.
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