Grapes

Appears in

Oxford Encyclopedia of Food and Drink in America

Published 2004

About

Although the Old World was the first to exploit it, the grape vine is a particularly American plant. Only one species of grape is to be found wild in Europe, while there are few places in temperate North America, from Canada to Mexico, without a native grape species. North America is the center of diversity for the grape. Twenty grape species are found there, and nowhere else.

American grapes found their first culinary use in the Native Americans’ pemmican, a confection of animal fats, fruits, and shredded meats. No doubt grapes were also consumed fresh, although very few vines produced tasty fruits. Viking explorers named their Newfoundland landfall Vinland, for the vines there; early colonists from England remarked on the bounty of grapes in their new home—and also their acrid flavor. These grapes, Vitis labrusca, have two outstanding characteristics: a thick skin that separates readily from the berry and a highly pungent aroma, described as “foxy.”