North American currant species

[luzula]

Americans! (And others, I suppose, but the plants are native to America.) Have you tasted any of the following, and if so, what did you think of the taste?

- Ribes aureum (according to Wikipedia known as golden currant/clove currant/pruterberry/buffalo currant)
- Ribes divaricatum (the variety known as black honey-berry)
- Ribes cynosbati (apparently tastes of violets?)

Also, are these species, which seem to grow wild and be native to North America, subject to a lot of plant breeding such that there are lots of domesticated breeds, as there are with Ribes species native to Europe such as black currant, red currant and gooseberry? I found these American species for sale at German plant nurseries and am now tempted...the first two especially sound interesting.

Comments

[naraht]

Never heard of them, sorry. I don't think I'd eaten a currant of any kind until I came to the UK. Americans are not big on them.

[luzula]

Huh, I had no idea! These native currant species do seem to have been popular in indigenous food cultures, though? What a waste that most people don't eat them now.

[conuly]

Americans are very not big on currants, and until very recently you weren't allowed to grow (non-native) currants pretty much anywhere because of fears they harbored a fungus that kills... something, I don't remember what. I remember when they started selling currants and gooseberries at the farmer's market, I'd only had them when visiting relatives before! And I still can only get them from one or two places at the farmer's market.

I had no idea we had any native currants at all.

[luzula]

It seems that indigenous food cultures included those native currants, so it seems a shame that most people don't eat them now!

*searches the internet* Ah, okay. It seems that currants were/are a host of a rust disease which kills pines, which explains the ban.

[isis]

Haha yeah, currants are currants here, I don't think I've ever seen any other than dried.

[luzula]

But I thought currants (the dried kind) were actually a kind of raisin, made from grapes? Not actually dried currants (the berry). Or maybe you were just making a pun. : )

[isis]

Huh, you are right! I did not know that.

Apparently they were restricted from growing in the US because of white pine blister rust, and although restrictions have been mostly lifted they are still rare.

Um, I've had cassis, at least!

[luzula]

Only a person who does not regularly eat currants (the berry) could fail to know that! : ) They really taste quite differently. However, I don't think I've ever had cassis.

Yes, I read that about the white pine blister rust--although since there are also native species, I suppose the ban couldn't be 100% effective.

[chestnut_pod]

Reporting for duty! Not to doxx myself via Ribes species or anything, but it would charm me if you got R. divaricatum specifically, as it's properly native to my old pre-grad-school home! I've only eaten the wild berries, but those are very delicious. Famous as a host to comma butterflies, if you have those over yonder.

It seems R. aureum technically grows around here too, but I don't think I've ever even seen it, much less eaten it. R. cynosbati is East Coast-only.

I've never seen these on offer even in native plant nurseries, which you'd think would have them, especially as they're such good butterfly and hummingbird plants. I think Americans were so scared off of currants due to the blister rust aforementioned that they have languished in obscurity.

[chestnut_pod]

Sorry, you asked for more specifics about the taste! They're lovely and juicy and tart, bigger and juicier than the other wild Ribeses I have lots of experience with, R. montigenum (which I would also recommend; the bright red berries are gorgeous) and R. speciosum (lovely fuchsia-like flowers, unnervingly prickly and tannic fruits). They have a slightly Concord grape flavor under the tartness, that slightly musky, round sensation in the mouth.

Do you know about NAEDB? A great source of information about how Indigenous people use specific plants.

[luzula]

Oh, I ought to have known I could rely on you! Thank you, I shall certainly grow R. divaricatum eventually.

Check out this page with the various Ribes species available at this German plant nursery, also ones from Asia (I machine translated it in the web browser). Also this page, so cool! It looks like R. odoratum (which I cannot figure out if it is actually a synonym of R. aureum) made its way to Russia from America in the 19th century and since then they've been developing all sorts of cool varieties and it is commonly grown in gardens there. Aaaah, I want to order them! Unfortunately I discovered this site after the 30th of October, which is when they stop shipping for the year...

Yes, we do have comma butterflies, in fact we call them "vinbärsfuks", where "vinbär" means currant. : )

Oh, and thanks for the link, that looks cool!

[chestnut_pod]

An embarrassment of currant riches! Now that you have all that garden space, I don't know how you're restraining yourself at all.

[luzula]

Ha ha, I am not. Though I am somewhat limited in planting fruit trees and bushes outside of the areas that we have fenced, in that we have to protect them from deer, which is a little work.