September 20, 2008
Yesterday I waxed lyrical about wine-drinking, only tangentially mentioning the delicious fruit from which wine is made.
With apologies to John Steinbeck, I think grapes are pretty fabulous.
Grapes do not have to be fermented in old French oak barrels to be useful. They are a great snacking food. They have their own carrier. You can throw them into the air and catch them in your mouth, and provide entertainment for your dinner guests. You can recline on a sofa and do that ancient Roman thing, which looks like the epitome of hedonism, except that you are eating something healthy. Grapes can be a part of a balanced diet, are a good source of Vitamin C and K. On the negative side, they do have a lot of sugar in them, in the form of fructose, but that only means that they should be eaten - say it all together, now - in moderation.
Generally I have been more familiar with the European style red or green grapes, such as Thompson Seedless, or Concord grapes. Apparently there are over 600 kinds of grapes. Recently, my friend Deb introduced me to champagne grapes, or Corinth grapes, which are really tiny, sort of Lilliputian grapes with no seeds. They are incredibly tasty, and so cute you just want to eat them one at a time so that you can continue to look at them as long as possible.
And then there are the leaves of the grape, which have even more health benefits than the fruit. Grape leaves are used to make dolmades, a Greek dish wherein grape leaves are stuffed with rice, lentils, meat and spices.
With apologies to John Steinbeck, I think grapes are pretty fabulous.
Grapes do not have to be fermented in old French oak barrels to be useful. They are a great snacking food. They have their own carrier. You can throw them into the air and catch them in your mouth, and provide entertainment for your dinner guests. You can recline on a sofa and do that ancient Roman thing, which looks like the epitome of hedonism, except that you are eating something healthy. Grapes can be a part of a balanced diet, are a good source of Vitamin C and K. On the negative side, they do have a lot of sugar in them, in the form of fructose, but that only means that they should be eaten - say it all together, now - in moderation.
Generally I have been more familiar with the European style red or green grapes, such as Thompson Seedless, or Concord grapes. Apparently there are over 600 kinds of grapes. Recently, my friend Deb introduced me to champagne grapes, or Corinth grapes, which are really tiny, sort of Lilliputian grapes with no seeds. They are incredibly tasty, and so cute you just want to eat them one at a time so that you can continue to look at them as long as possible.
And then there are the leaves of the grape, which have even more health benefits than the fruit. Grape leaves are used to make dolmades, a Greek dish wherein grape leaves are stuffed with rice, lentils, meat and spices.
Grapes are very pretty to look at, especially when they are chilled and rinsed off, and have those little beads of water on them, and you place them in the middle of your table in a nice bowl. But of course, then you have to start eating them, or the little fruit flies will come and they will not look so good anymore. Better you should eat them before that happens.
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1 comment:
And if you're really, really lucky you will find a grape with the Virgin Mary on it, and you can get rich selling it for $500 on ebay! http://cgi.ebay.com/_W0QQitemZ%20220278372258
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