Recipe: Wild Things Grape Soda

Hi! I’m Grapes!

"Did you know that some grapevine rootstocks have been found in China that date back to before the great ice age? That's how long we've been cultivated by mankind and wherever we've grown, we've been harvested to be eaten fresh, dried to sustain people through the long winter months or turned into wine for both social and religious occasions. Yes, we have a very special relationship with humans, so let me tell you more about us."

History & Etymology

• Grapes grew and were eventually domesticated about 6,000 to 8,000 years ago in the Middle East. Archaeologist evidence points to grapes used in wine-making around the same time. 
• Spanish explorers introduced European grapes to the Americas about 300 years ago, but a native, wild genus of grapes grew in North America before then, which Native Americans ate.
• People in the United States eat about eight pounds of grapes per person per year.
• California produces 98 percent of the fresh grapes grown in the US.
• The English word "grape" comes from Middle English from the Old French "grape" (grape or bunch of grapes), possibly from a Germanic word "graper" (to pick grapes, from a word meaning 'hook').

Anatomy

• Grapes grow in bunches, like an upside-down pyramid, roundish or long and thin. Each grape is attached to the main stem of the bunch by its own short stem. Its thin skin encloses a sweet, juicy, jelly-like, almost translucent flesh.
• If left alone, a grapevine will spread 50 feet or more.
• There are two different types of grapes: table and wine. Most are from the same species, but through selective breeding, table grapes are larger, seedless, and have thin skin, and wine grapes are small, seeded, and have thick skin. 
• Grape colors vary. White grapes are actually light green. Other colors include yellow, pink, red, purple, and black. 

How to Pick, Buy, & Eat

• When selecting grapes, choose a bunch with firm, plump, healthy-colored fruit tightly attached to green, flexible stems.
• You can eat table grapes for a snack or put them whole or sliced in salads and main dishes. 
• Raisins, currants, and sultanas are types of dried grapes. 
• Grape juice and wine are made by crushing and blending grapes. Purple grape juice is made from Concord grapes and white grape juice from Niagara grapes, or sometimes Thompson Seedless (sultana) grapes. For wine, the resulting liquid is fermented.

Nutrition

• The belief that grapes have healing properties dates back to ancient times, long before scientific research gave grapes disease-fighting credibility. In ancient China, wine was mixed with snakes, frogs, and other creatures to cure sickness. 
• Grapes are a moderate source of carbohydrate food energy and vitamin K! Vitamin K helps the blood clot, and when we get a cut, blood will clot to stop the cut from bleeding.