Giving Thanks for Fruit

Cranberries are a native American fruit, one the Pilgrims and Native Americans are reputed to have shared at the first Thanksgiving. The berries still play a starring role at holiday dinners, but raisins are a strong second, a common ingredient adding a sweet and tangy flavor to Thanksgiving dishes such as turkey stuffing and sweet potato casseroles. Year round, raisins are used in savory servings alongside such ingredients as apples, celery, and sausage. Some bakers, both home-based and commercial, use them to provide a contrasting sweetness in various goods such as breads.

Years and years and years ago, when modern Americans’ great granddaddies were tiny tots, enjoying fresh fruit in winter was an unimaginable luxury, which is why holiday movies and stories used to talk about putting an orange in the stocking as treat for good children. On a more pious note, the tradition is said to date all the way back to the 4th century, when legend has it that Saint Nicholas, a Greek bishop known for his kindness and generosity, secretly helped three poor sisters by dropping golden spheres—often imagined as gold balls—into their stockings, which were hung by the fire to dry.

The introduction of refrigerated railroad cars and trucks made it possible to keep fruit fresh while being shipped. The first such cars, on New York’s Northern Railroad in June 1851, were actual iceboxes on wheels, an iffy proposition at best since they worked only in weather cold enough to keep the ice frozen. By mid-20th century, mechanical and chemical refrigeration made it possible for everyone to munch on oranges, grapes, pineapples . . . whichever they chose, whenever they chose.

Nonetheless, every once in a while, it’s nice to taste what the old folks had: dried fruit. Of course that’s hardly a punishment. Dried fruit not only tastes good; it’s a healthful addition to any diet because drying washes away water, concentrating nutrients into a smaller space. As a result, dried food often has more nutritional bounce to the ounce than the fresh variety.

Consider two ounces of raisins versus the same quantity of Thompson Seedless grapes, the ones most commonly dried into raisins. Both are virtually fat free with zero cholesterol, but USDA numbers show that, compared with fresh grapes, raisins have twice the Vitamin C, three times the iron, four times the dietary fiber, four times the healthful potassium, and six times the protein. Raisins are also richer in some polyphenols, natural antioxidant and anti-inflammatory chemical compounds that modulate sugar absorption (glycemic index), and promote a feeling of fullness after meals.

Nothing’s perfect, of course. Raisins are sweetened with four times as much natural sugars as fresh grapes, which can make them dentally dicey since, like other dried fruit, they stick to the teeth, leaking those sugars that feed cavity-causing bacteria. Second, some fruits, such as apples, contain an enzyme that darkens the flesh when the fruit is exposed to air. To keep these fruits from darkening when dried, marketers may apply sulfur compounds that set off serious lethal allergy alarms for sensitive individuals. In others words, enjoy your raisins, but check the label and be sure to brush and floss after eating.