jpexg@mit-hermes.ARPA (John Purbrick) (05/01/85)
>Gooseberries are not grapes. They are closely related to currants. Both >currants and gooseberries are members of the genus "Ribes." There is a type >of small raisin called a "currant," but this is a red herring: the name is a >corruption of "Corinth," which is the place the grapes were originally >grown. Gosseberries are related to currants? You astonish me, but OK. I buy dried currants in a box which is marked "California dried currants" on one side and "Groseilles de Californie" on the other, presumably so the same packaging can be used in Canada. "Groseille" could become "gooseberry"--or am I buying Corinths passed off as true currants? I think I'd recognize a herring, though, whatever it was called--perhaps a "red currant"? (Or is that "grosseille"? Well, many net.posters can't spell even in English.)