Forget all the fancy shade-grown, locavore-friendly organic dried fruit at Whole Foods — sun-dried raisins are still kicking it old skool after more than a hundred years. Raisins: the original dried fruit.
Raisins are cheap and found in everything from baked goods to soup. Sun-Maid, the brand created by the California Associated Raisin Company in 1915, is offering all of its raisin-themed cookbooks as free downloads on its website. I adore vintage cookbooks for their lovely artwork and amusing recipes, but especially for their focus on “food value” (what we today call nutritional analysis) and thrift. Take this claim from the first “Souvenir California Raisin Recipe Book,” published in 1915:
“You owe these foods to your family, madam, for raisins are the “gems of food.” They are rich in food value, and they have an invaluable gentle laxative effect.
One pound of Calfornia’s Sun-Maid Raisins are equal in food value to:
1 1/3 lbs of beef
4 1/4 lbs of potatoes
1 lb of bread
4 lbs of milk
4 3/4 lbs of fish
2 lbs of eggs
6 lbs of apples
5 lbs of bananas”
We know that of most kinds of organic dried fruit, raisins are the richest in antioxidants. But equal to five pounds of bananas? Who knew?
Back in 1915, the raisin growers surely didn’t want consumers taking their prize produce for granted, but raisins were (and are) quite economical:
“Raisins, then, are economical because they supply the body with needed food- properties. Nothing that is food is waste. Raisins are not a luxury. Economize by doing without other edibles that do not produce health, strength and energy. Never be without raisins. Keep them always in the house. Give them to the children after school in place of questionable candy.
Many people eat a few raisins to dispel faintness. Mountain guides and others who travel long distances through forests often depend only on raisins and a little flour for food.
And handful of raisins eaten every night is an excellent natural laxative. The fruit juices and the bulk keep the bowels in perfect condition.”
“Never be without raisins!” Let that be a warning to you the next time you’re working as a mountain guide in a forest and have only a teaspoon of flour for food. Organic dried fruit — raisins, in particular — might just be the perfect portable food.
Sun-Maid cookbooks from the 1940s focus on wartime rationing and ingenious ways of fitting raisins into dishes for a little flavor in place of rationed ingredients, like in:
Wartime Meat Loaf
1 lb. ground lean veal, pork of beef
1/2 cup Sun-Maid Seedless Raisins
1 large onion, chopped
1 cup uncooked rolled oats
1 cup bread crumbs
1 1/2 tsps salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp poultry seasoning
1 egg, beaten
1 1/4 cups water
Combine ingredients in order given, pack into greased small loaf pan, and bake in a moderate oven (350 F) 1 hour. Serve hot or cold. Serves 6.
Once we reach the 1970s, Sun-Maid seems to have forgotten its claims to food value and economy, not to mention taste. Here’s an example from 1970′s “Delicious New Raisin Recipes“:
Sailors’ Raisin Chicken Scramble
8 pieces frying chicken
3 tablespoons shortening
1 medium onion, chopped
1 cup rice
2/3 cup Sun-Maid Seedless or Seedless Nectar Raisins
1 teaspoon garlic salt
1/2 teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 (1-pound) can stewed tomatoes
2 tablespoons chicken base stock
1 1/2 cups water
Brown chicken in shortening. Push to side of skillet. Add onion. Cook until soft. Stir in remaining ingredients. Cover. Simmer 45 minutes. Makes 4 servings.
Peruse the history of organic dried fruit with Sun-Maid’s vintage cookbooks. Your cocktail party canapes will never be the same.
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