In a discussion on the relative benefits of currants and raisins, vegetable95 claimed the superiority of raisins.
Simply put, vegetable95 doesn’t know what he’s talking about when it comes dried grapes. The currant (specifally, the Zante currant) is small and sweet. It is, for it’s size, intensely juicy, almost requiring a bib. It’s size-to-sweet-juice ratio is exactly why the currant is superior to the raisin. The raisin is inefficient, and is a perfect example of what juice economists call the juice diseconomies of scale with respect to fruit size.
So what’s with vegetable95’s love of the large raisin? Perhaps he’s overcompensating for something?
April 16, 2007 at 1:19 am
I hate to say it, but this is one of those rare instances where armchair economics has led us astray. While it may be true that currants are juicy for their size, one must not fail to take into account the importance of surface area. Owing to their small size, currants have a vastly higher ratio of surface area to volume than do raisins. The skin being the driest part of currants and raisins alike, this is enough to overwhelm the diseconomies of scale cited in the article. Had therecreationalvegan actually left the comfort of his office to observe currants and raisins in the field, he might not have omitted this important fact.