Spanish-American housewives excel their American
sisters in the art of preserving. Pumpkin, peach, pear, fig, are all
treated in the same manner, being first soaked in lye, then thoroughly
washed and scalded in abundance of fresh water, and then cooked in a
very heavy sirup. The result of this treatment is that the outside of
the fruit is crisp and brittle, while the inside is creamy and
delicious.
The first of California's dried fruits to come before the public was the
raisin. Raisins are merely the proper variety of grapes suitably dried.
Some think that they are dipped in sugar, but this is not the fact. The
only sugar is that contained in the juice of the grape, which should be
about one fourth sugar. The only raisin grape for general use is the
greenish variety called the Muscat. The rich purple or chocolate color
of the raisin of the market is caused by the action of the sun while the
raisin is being cured. If dried in the shade the fruit has a sickly
greenish hue. The seedless Sultana is a small grape, fast coming into
favor for a cooking raisin.
The proper planting of a raisin vineyard requires a large amount of care
and labor.
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