Blackcurrant

Ribes nigrum

fruit

Black, tart, very fragrant berries of a shrub from northern and central Europe, rarely eaten raw: liqueurs, jams, and the crème de cassis of a kir. They provide vitamin C, anthocyanins and quercetin.

Origin

Northern and Central Europe

Season (United States)

June to August · grows in your region

Preparation

The berries are stripped from their stalks with a fork, then eaten raw — very tart — or more often cooked into jam, jelly, syrup or coulis; skin and seeds are eaten. Its skin is eaten, and that is where its polyphenols sit: worth keeping, then — but under running water, rubbing it, which is what takes off most of what settles there, organic or not.

Molecules

Pectins · Anthocyanins · Flavonols (quercetin) · Vitamin C · Insoluble fibers

Did you know?

In the United States, growing it was banned for much of the 20th century: the blackcurrant spread a rust disease that threatened white pine forests.