So what’s the difference between sultanas, currants and raisins anyway?
I’m sure we’ve all come across this situation. A lonely, shrivelled, defenceless *dried grape* lies on a plate screaming “eat me”, whilst people gather and point saying, “it’s a sultana”, “no, it’s a raisin”, “are you sure? I think it’s a currant”, and so on and so forth. That poor lonely dried grape! He just wants to be eaten. It’s his goal in life. Neigh, his dream! But this cannot be, until everyone has debated on *what* he really is. So I think for the sake of the poor grape we should clear up, what exactly is the difference between sultanas, currants and raisins, so that the eating can continue.
To put it bluntly, the difference between sultanas, currants and raisins is that different varieties of grapes are used to make each of them.
Sultanas are produced from various green seedless grapes such as the Thompson Seedless or Menindee Seedless varieties of grapes.
Currants are similarly made from seedless grapes, however they are usually of the red variety such as Zante (Black Corinth) or Carina grapes.
Raisins are produced from a blend of several varieties, mostly the Muscat Gordo Blanco or Waltham Cross grapes. These varieties of grapes contain seeds which are removed during processing..
However they do all have one thing in common! And that is 4kg of fresh grapes is needed to produce 1kg of sultanas/raisins/currants!
