Fruit
Raisins
Also called sultanas, dried grapes
Dried grapes — raisins, sultanas — the sweet fleck in kabuli pulao, pastel de choclo and barmbrack. Sultanas are usually paler; raisins are darker. Chocolate-covered raisins are not a cooking ingredient.
Origin
Mediterranean and Central Asian drying. Afghan pilaf, Chilean pino and Irish tea brack all treat the same dried fruit as a sweet pause in a savoury or malty bite.
Flavour
Concentrated grape, more caramel than juice. Old raisins taste of leather. Rum-soaked raisins taste of the rum.
How it is made
Ripe grapes are sun-dried or tunnel-dried. A little oil sometimes keeps supermarket raisins separate; it is harmless and a bit greasy in a cake.
How to use it
Soak in hot tea, rum or water if they have hardened. In kabuli pulao, fry them briefly with carrots so they plump in fat. In pastel de choclo they should stay whole, not boil into jam. Barmbrack wants an overnight soak in strong tea. Flour a handful before folding into cake so they do not sink.
Storage
Airtight, cool cupboard. They dry to pebbles in heat and ferment if they pick up moisture. A sugary crust is concentration; fuzzy white is mould.
Recipes using it
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