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Grape expectations

Not just for making wine, grapes have a place in the kitchen

I attended a wedding at a beautiful vineyard a few years ago. The ceremony was conducted outdoors under a pergola covered in green heart-shaped leaves with tiny, honey-coloured clusters of grapes hanging amidst twirling tendrils of vine. It was a very romantic setting. The grapes themselves, little chardonnay grapes, were a mouth-puckering sour.

Grapes are thought to be the earliest of cultivated fruits. Evidence of established vines date back to as early as the Stone Age, in the Caucasus, where it is believed they originated, as well as the Mediterranean region.

The giddiness that resulted from eating fermented grapes was discovered just as early on, though wine as we know it today is a far cry from the gritty, pulpy, seedy, mud-textured "liquid" that the ancient Greeks sampled. Dionysus, was not so much a God of wine, but of the disillusionment and passion associated with the consumption of the fermented grape juice.

In Roman times, the infamous Censor, Cato, established kissing as a welcoming gesture when he decreed all husbands to test the breath of their wives so that they might easily discover if they had been drinking in their absence. The Gauls, inventors of the cask, became masters of vine cultivation but it was not until later that the monks elevated grape cultivation to the art of wine making as we know it today. Throughout these times, grapes were grown and consumed as a readily available fruit.

There are thousands of varieties of grapes in the world. Different varieties range in colour from pale yellows and greens to blushing pink to dark purple and almost black. Grapes may be bitter, sour, sweet or juicy and any combination in between. The genus name, Vitis, is the Latin word for "life", part of the same family of words like vitality and vital.

In fact, grape vines are very easy to grow. At the federal breeding station in Morden, Manitoba, cuttings are rooted in pails of sand.

Getting a grape vine to produce fruit is not as easy. Grapes need a long, hot summer with a lot of sun to ripen clusters of berries by early autumn. Ripe grapes have a musty, sweet aroma. In 986 Viking sailors recounted discovering a distant land, beyond the land they called Greenland; how invigorated the seamen were by the intoxicating smell of ripening grapes while still a hundred miles from shore. They named the western continent Vinland or vine-land.

Wild grapes were well established along the North American eastern sea board when Europeans arrived in the 1600s. Water was considered such a dangerous drink in Europe in those days, the colonists continued to ferment grains and berries in order to consume the safer alcoholic drinks after arriving in the New World. Thomas Jefferson, concerned about the consumption of hard liquor by the Virginians, advocated that a good wine industry might help with the widespread inebriation. Grape cultivation continued.

Cooking with grapes and using the vine leaves to encase savoury stuffings was already common practice, especially in eastern Europe and the Middle East. Eating a spoonful of grape jam with a cooling glass of water is a traditional welcome in the Middle East. North American First Nations stuffed fish, ducks and other game birds with grapes before roasting.

It seems that grapes have been neglected as a culinary ingredient as of late. Unless of course you count grape jelly as a partner to a peanut butter sandwich. This is probably due to the fact that grapes are delicious au naturel. Eaten out of hand, they are a convenient, healthy snack that partners well with cheese. Frozen, they are a cooling treat in the hot summer. Dried into raisins they grace a multitude of dishes, from rice pilaf to pudding.

The most common supermarket grapes are the green, seedless, Thompson grapes. Red Flame, also seedless, is another common variety. Concord grapes, used mostly for making juice and jelly, are of the slip-skin variety – squeezed gently the pulp pops from the skin. Other table grapes don’t travel too well once harvested and usually turn up at farmer’s markets. If you come across different varieties, try them. They are more exciting, with deeper nuances of flavour, than the bland supermarket grapes.

When choosing grapes, the white bloom upon them is a good sign that they have been harvested recently. Choose fruit that is clean and firm and that is not too closely packed on the stalk. Before eating grapes they should be washed in acidulated water (water with a little bit of lemon juice or vinegar added to it). Grapes pair well with other fruits, cheeses, mild meats such as chicken or veal and fish. They are lovely added to salads, especially cold chicken salad. I once had a curried chicken salad sandwich with grapes – a delicious combination of spicy sweet. Grape jelly can be a wonderful medium for other additions like garlic, cinnamon, cloves or even chilies which make unique pairings with roasted meat or with soft cheeses on crackers. Freshly made grape juice has a cult following and the juice extracted from under-ripe grapes, verjuice, is used as a sauce ingredient.

To roast a chicken stuffed with grapes, wash a three pound chicken inside and out and season the inside with salt and pepper. Place washed, seeded grapes, removed from their stems, in the inside of the chicken allowing them to spill out and around the chicken in a roasting pan. You can also toss a few peeled cloves of garlic with the grapes inside the chicken. Tuck some grapes underneath the bird as well. Roast in a 400 degree oven for an hour to an hour and a half, basting every now and then with the juices. This is best served with rice with the grapes and the juice used as a sauce.

The following recipe comes from a menu inspired by the idea of an evening among the vineyards of wine country. I made this tart for Thanksgiving last weekend as a change from pumpkin pie. It is not too sweet but distinctly berry tasting and was a fresh finale to a rich dinner. True pastry chefs would cringe at the thought of leaving the grapes with seeds in them but with a toddler and four month old baby I wasn’t going to take the time to seed two pounds of grapes. After we had eaten the tart I mentioned this to our guests – none of them could tell if they had eaten a grape seed or not. This is a good filling to make with a toddler as little hands are a great help at smushing up the grapes.

Concord Grape Tart

1 recipe favorite pie pastry

1 egg mixed with 1 tablespoon water

2 pounds/ 1 kilogram concord grapes (or other grapes)

5 tablespoons cornstarch

1 tablespoon lemon juice

2 teaspoons grated orange zest

half a cup of sugar

2 tablespoons framboise liqueur (optional)

Preheat oven to 400F. Roll out pastry to fit 23 cm (9 inch) loose bottomed tart pan or pie plate. Trim pastry leaving 1 inch overhang. Fold edge over and crimp. Beat egg and water together and brush over the sides and bottom of the pastry. Refrigerate while preparing filling. Cut grapes in half and flick out the seeds with the tip of a knife (I left grapes whole and left the seeds in which were tiny anyway). Place them in a pot. Squeeze grapes with your fingers to remove the pulp. Place a third of a cup of the juice in a two cup measuring cup. Combine juice with remaining ingredients and mix well before adding this to the pot. Bring the mixture to a boil over medium heat stirring constantly. The mixture will thicken. Pour into prepared pie shell. The mixture will bubble in the oven so only fill the shell half to three quarters full. If you have leftover save for another use. Place tart in lower third of oven. Bake for 45 minutes or until grape juice is bubbling. The filling firms up as it cools. Serve with whipped cream or a dollop of cinnamon ice cream.