Is the currant poised for a revival? Yes, according to McCormick. The spice giant recently named black currant as its 2026 “Flavor of the Year,” an honor so given because of the berry’s “distinct yet balanced flavor profile that’s sweet, tart and rich.”
For fans of Jewish cuisine, however, currants don’t need a comeback… because they never left. Though perhaps dismissed by parochial gourmands as an archaic ingredient, the currant is perennially relevant in Jewish cooking.
Before diving into how and why the currant is and always has been, well, current, a few points of clarification. First, “currant” is an umbrella term that misleadingly conflates multiple species under the genus ribes, including but not limited to: pink, white, black, red and gold currants plus gooseberries and jostaberries. Furthermore, in Jewish gastronomy, currants can refer to two very distinct fruits: zante “currants,” which are actually dried Black Corinth grapes and fresh red, black or white ribes berries.
While currants do not technically rank as one of the seven special agricultural foodstuffs of Israel designated by the Torah, they nevertheless hold symbolic fiat. Zante currants are thought of by some as a form of grapes (which are one of those seven sacred species) and therefore by extension can be seen as a Messianic metaphor for the Jews (i.e., Israeli people as the “flourishing vine”). Red currants are historically associated with rejuvenation, while black currants are believed by some to convey strength and resilience through their tartness.
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Currants in their varied forms have been cultivated throughout Europe for centuries (with one of the earliest records dating to monasteries in 350 AD) and were commonly featured in Ashkenazi and Sephardic cooking. Although indigenous peoples in America were known to grow and harvest currents for medicinal uses, they made their way into mainstream American Jewish cuisine via European colonists, then waves of immigrants, in the mid-to-late 1880s. Sources estimate that over 12,000 acres of commercial production of currents had been established in the United States (primarily in New York) by the turn of the 20th century.
Unfortunately, Americans soon turned sour on currants when it was discovered that black currants acted as hosts for the fungus cronatium ribicola, also known as the “White Pine Blister Rust,” which can have devastating effects on said tree populations. Black currants were deemed so potentially detrimental to the timber industry that their cultivation, sale and transport were outlawed in 1911 by the federal government. The ban was lifted in 1966 but persisted for decades on the state-level, with some states barring this berry up through the 21st century.
Nevertheless, Jews never stopped cooking with this sometimes forbidden fruit, even if they had to do so clandestinely, perhaps because of their astounding versatility. Their diverse applications are evidenced by currants’ incorporation in a range of classic Jewish dishes, such as charoset, hamantaschen, challah and rugelach.
Some of my favorite ways to use this versatile ingredient? They add that mashehu meyuchad — something special — in albondigas (Sephardic cocktail meatballs), these lamb and beef lollipops and this gorgeous Rosh Hashanah plov.
So let’s celebrate 2026 as the year of the currant, but know that Jewish cooks have treasured this particular berry all along.
