ITIS, VARIOUS SPECIES
GRAPES ARE the flavor chameleons of the fruit world. Some grapes taste of strawberries, others of black currants, still others of apples, or lemons, or plums. Very few of the top-quality organic table grapes for fresh eating will show up in supermarkets. You will find some of them at farmers’ markets and roadside stands in various parts of the country, however.
THE ORGANIC FACTOR
During most of the year, supermarket table grapes usually come from California’s Central Valley, where they are subjected to applications of fungicides, pesticides, herbicides, and chemical fertilizers—as well as gibberelic acid, a plant growth hormone that stimulates grapes to grow much larger than their natural size. Unsprayed, they would be about the size of your little fingernail.
It used to be hard to find organic grapes. A grower named Steve Pavich was among the first to supply them in quantity, but today there are many sources of organic grapes. California alone has 66,000 acres of grapes in organic culture—many of them used to make wine.
Grapes are perfectly capable of being grown organically in all the climates of the United States (there are even grapes grown on Mount Haleakala, on the tropical island of Maui). If you’re interested in growing some vines organically, perhaps on an arbor over a picnic table, you might look for my book, From Vines to Wines (1999), which, although it focuses on growing wine grapes, details all the techniques and materials you’ll need to handle table grapes organically.
NUTRITION
Red grapes have good stores of antioxidants, and all grapes supply calcium, potassium, and vitamin C in modest quantities.
TYPES
The best table grapes for eating come from selected varieties of native American grapes, Old World wine grapes called Vitis vinifera, or from hybrids the two. Seedless grapes are the best for eating out of hand. Seeded grapes may be delicious, but you have to work those seeds out unless you don’t mind crunching the seeds, which then release bitter and astringent flavors.
Red grapes generally have more flavor than white, because the pigments in the skins are also flavor compounds. The darker the skin, the more flavor in the grape. American grape types have that foxy fruitiness, which reduces their value as wine grapes, but also have roots that are resistant to a plant louse called phylloxera, so most vines in Europe and America are planted on American rootstock. European grapes are superb for winemaking, and many crosses have yielded seedless table varieties that we are familiar with at our supermarkets. French-American hybrids, as crosses between American and
European grape types are called, have some of the fine flavors of the European varieties but also some of the foxiness of the American parent. And then there are Mus-cadines and Concord grapes, both derived from native wild grapes and with a flavor all their own (see Wild Grapes and Concord Grapes).
Eastern grape types in general have fruitier flavor than the standard seedless table grapes from California, such as the familiar Thompson Seed-less, Perlette, and Ribier. Two seedless varieties in particular are simply outstanding for fresh eating: Einset and Canadice. If you don’t mind seeds, Catawba, a reddish-purple grape with a sprightly, slightly foxy, muscat-like flavor, has been a long-time favorite since the early 19th century. It was the chief variety grown along the Ohio River Valley to make sparkling wine in the mid-1800s, until the vines were wiped out by an attack of rot. It’s still sometimes juiced for wine or fresh-frozen juice and is a treat as the dessert after a fine meal. The Delaware, another seeded red grape, became the standard of excellence for American grapes after its introduction in 1851 in Delaware, Ohio, and to this day is considered by many to be the best red American grape of them all. It’s juicy, with a bright acidity and refreshing quality, a touch of foxiness, and beautiful appearance.
RAISINS
Any grapes can be dried for homemade raisins. I dry mine in a dehydrator, but you can sundry them if you live in a hot, dry climate. ....read more
Share This Article
