Currants

All year round

Currants are small black grapes (often Zante or Corinth varieties) that have been dried. The same technique is used to make raisins and sultanas: the grapes are coated with a harmless drying emulsion and left to dry in the sun. When they are done a production line of sieves, combs and air jets removes the stems and any fragments of leaf or twig which, in the tough old days, the conscientious cook would have to pick off herself before she made her cakes and puddings.