Currant

The currant is of the gooseberry family, native to parts of western Europe. There are three species, the redcurrant, the whitecurrant and the blackcurrant.

The redcurrant is slighty more sour than its relative the blackcurrant, and is cultivated mainly for jams and cooked dishes, rather than for eating raw. In Scandinavia it is often used in fruit soups and summer puddings, and in Germany it is also used in combination with custard or meringue as a filling for tarts.