Читать книгу The Raisin Industry - Gustavus A. Eisen - Страница 9

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The third class of raisins are the dipped raisins, so called from being dipped in boiling lye before being dried and cured. The Spanish name for these raisins is Lexias. The name Lexia is, again, derived from a more ancient word, the Latin lixivium, or lixia, meaning lye. To-day the continental name for this class of raisin is Lexias, when the more specific names of Denias and Valencias are not used. Here, in America, we generally use these names, and whenever we speak of Valencias and Denias we mean the dipped raisins of these districts. To the above three classes of raisins we might appropriately add Sultanas and Malagas. The Sultanas are made from the Sultana grape, a seedless grape from Asia Minor, now grown in many Mediterranean countries, as well as here in California. The Malagas, again, were originally the Muscatels grown around Malaga, in Spain; but of late this name is being, with considerable confusion, applied to a coarser raisin made in California from a grape here called, for want of a better name, the Malaga grape.

Among names which were formerly much used, but which have gone out of use, was the Solis, or sun-dried raisins, especially the sun-dried Muscatels of Malaga. As early as 1295 A. D., the Muscatels were generally called thus: Raisins of the sun; Solis, or sun-dried, so as to distinguish them from the inferior dipped, or Lexias. In our own time, this name was nearly being revived, when a couple of years ago our California sun-dried raisins were spoken of in opposition to our machine-dried raisins, and when both classes had their earnest and enthusiastic champions.

We cannot leave this chapter on names without referring to classes of raisins receiving their names from certain localities. Of course, the number of such names may be almost endless. It is, however, only of interest to refer to the principal ones, such as have been known to commerce in former days or are yet known. Thus, we designate as Malagas any of the raisins grown and shipped from Malaga. The Smyrnas (formerly Smirna) are those from Smyrna, in Asia Minor, both sun-dried and dipped raisins; the Alicantes, dipped raisins, from Alicante, in Spain; the Denias, dipped raisins from Denia, in Spain; the Valencias, dipped raisins from Valencia (include Denias); the Lipari, raisins from the Island of Lipari, near Sicily; the Belvideres, from the same island and from the Island of Pantellaria; the Calabrian raisins, from Calabria, in Italy; the Faro raisins, from the port of Faro, in Algarve, Portugal. We have above already referred to the currants, from the town of Corinth and the Grecian Islands, and the Malagas, from Malaga. The latter were also known as “great raisins,” on account of their superior quality. Among the latter we should, of course, count the California raisins; but, unfortunately, our raisin-growers have not until quite recently recognized the necessity of adopting names which should at once show the locality where the raisins are produced. But we will return to this further on.