  Nothing beats a handful of sweet grapes with a ripe, creamy brie, or perhaps a nugget of aged Cheddar. (Sun Media) |
Oh, Beulah -- peel me a grape!
This was May West's famous other line, from her film I'm No Angel, when the queen of double entendres managed to elevate a request for her favourite fruit into something akin to soft porn.
The legendary sex siren single-handedly made the grape a luscious object of desire.
But then of course, grapes have always held an air of mystique -- historically they're steeped in everything from the sensual to the spiritual, and they've been plucked, noshed, crushed and savoured in every imaginable way. Grapes are considered one of the oldest known fruits to man, and enjoyed on a variety of culinary levels.
And grapes continue to endure and endear - be they eaten fresh, plucked off the vine, pressed into service as wine or juice, dried into chewy raisins or used as centrepieces in art.
Or simply peeled and chewed between tongue and teeth, like our friend May.
Research from foodreference.com shows that growing grapes is one of the largest - if the largest - of food industries worldwide, with more than 60 species and 8000 varieties of grapes worldwide.
According to the California Table Grape Commission, a 3/4 cup (175ml) serving of grapes contains just 90 calories, no sodium or cholesterol and virtually no fat. Grapes contain vitamin C and potassium, as well as a small amount of fibre. Plus grapes are a natural source of beneficial antioxidants and play important roles in areas of health such as your heart, cardiovascular disease and more. There's even preliminary data to suggest that polyphenols from grapes may play a role in protecting against Alzheimer's disease.
And nothing beats a handful of sweet grapes with a ripe, creamy brie, or perhaps a nugget of aged Cheddar. Truth be told, grapes and cheese go together like love and romance.
So - let's raise a glass to glorious grapes -- quite simply, they're grand.
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COASTAL SALAD WITH GRAPES AND SHRIMP
Recipe courtesy of California Table Grape Commission
1 lb. (500g) large pink bay shrimp
1 cup (250ml) seedless grapes, quartered
cup (125ml) chopped celery
cup (125ml) canned chopped water chestnuts
2 EACH green onions, sliced, white and green parts kept separate
2 Tbsp. (30ml) mayonnaise
2 Tbsp. (30ml) dry sherry
tsp. (1ml) EACH salt and fresh ground black pepper
Few drops toasted sesame oil
Pinch dry mustard
1 Tbsp. (15ml) sesame seeds
In a medium bowl, combine shrimp, grapes, celery, water chestnuts and sliced whites of the green onion.
In a small bowl, combine mayonnaise, sherry, salt, pepper, sesame oil and dry mustard. Gently mix with shrimp and grape mixture. Sprinkle with sliced green part of onion and sesame seeds. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
Serves 4.
GRAPE AND ROSEMARY TEA BREAD
Recipe courtesy of California Table Grape Commission
2 cups (625g) all-purpose flour
2/3 cup (150ml) sugar
1 Tbsp. (15ml) baking powder
1 tsp. (7ml) lemon zest
tsp. (2ml) finely chopped fresh rosemary
1 egg, beaten
1 cup (250ml) vanilla yogurt
cup (125ml) extra virgin olive oil
2 cups (500ml) black or red seedless grapes
Grease two 4 " by 8 " (1.5L) loaf pans. Preheat oven to 350F (180C).
In a mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, lemon zest and rosemary. Mix well. Add egg, yogurt and olive oil and blend until moistened but not smooth. Dough will be quite thick. Add grapes and fold until fruit is evenly distributed. Divide batter evenly into pans and smooth into corners. Bake for 50 minutes or until tops are a dark, golden brown and a wooden pick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes. Turn out onto a wire rack and cool completely before slicing.
Wrap and freeze if desired.
Yield: 2 loaves, 15 slices per loaf.
DID YOU KNOW
The grape is one of the oldest fruits to be cultivated, going back as far as biblical times. Spanish explorers introduced the fruit to America approximately 300 years ago. Grape growing is the largest food industry in the world. There are more than 60 species and 8,000 varieties of grapes, and they can all be used to make juice and/or wine.
-- foodreference.com
It takes about 21/2 lbs. (2.2 kg) of grapes to produce a bottle of wine! One acre of grapes can produce an average of about 15,000 glasses of wine.
BUYING AND STORING
Quality table grapes are plump, smooth, evenly coloured and firmly attached to the stem.
Store grapes for a week to 10 days in the refrigerator, loosely wrapped or in ventilated plastic. Wash just before serving.
Grapes can be frozen in an airtight container and eaten as a snack. When using frozen grapes for preserves, thaw in refrigerator just until crushable.
-- Foodland Ontario
