North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

["Martha L. Davis" <martha_davis@earthlink.net>]

My favorite way to eat red currants (other than just plain) is to make rote 
gruetze or rotgrot or red fruit juice dessert.  The recipie is more or less 
circumpolar German, Swedish, Russian etc slightly different names and fruits 
and probably thickeners. It is a cornstarch thickened fruit pudding made with 
fruit, sugar, water cornstarch and a cinnamon stick. Traditionally you serve 
with it cream either floating on top or whipped.  Cook the fruit with the 
water sugar and cinnamon stick 5 minutes or so.  Pull the cinnamon stick out. 
 Sieve the fruit mixture if you are going to,  add the corn starch mixed with 
a little water and bring to a boil agin untill the starch is cooked and pour 
into serving dishes.  It is simple and quick to make and can be served warm 
or chilled.  I originally had it made with pulped raspberries.  A Russian 
restaurant made it with cranberries.  I didn't make it all that often because 
of the sieving the fruit step. Then I had it in Germany  made with whole red 
currants, gooseberries, raspberries, strawberries and tart cherries  seeds 
pits and all.  Now I make more often unsieved  with lots of different 
combinations, though plain red currant is a favorite.  One note, black 
currants have enough flavor to overwhelm most other flavors in the mix if you 
use them in quantity.  

Red currants also make very nice wine and jam or jelly.  The summer pudding 
is great.

Martha