Raisins: from food in the Bible to Christmas controversy – 12/20/2023 – Balance

It’s a gastronomic ideological polarization that always arises in the month of December: after all, will dinner be with raisins or without raisins?

On one side, there are those who hate it and prefer to sit at the table with the uncle who votes on the opposite political spectrum rather than eat anything with the fruit; on the other, those who cannot imagine the pomp and solemnity of Christmas and New Year without the complement.

Because the history of food is as long as it is rich in interpretations. Raisins are mentioned in texts from the Old Testament of the Bible, which leads us to believe that they were consumed at least 4 thousand years ago.

Basically, the dehydrated fruit proposal makes perfect sense, especially in a world before the refrigerator. It was a way to preserve food for months — and have it available even during the harsh winter months.

According to gastronome and historian Camila Landi, professor and coordinator of the Gastronomy Technology course at Universidade Presbiteriana Mackenzie, the evidence suggests that the consumption of raisins began as a matter of survival, in remote antiquity.

“Seeds and fruits that fell from trees and dried naturally [serviam de alimento]”, she explains to BBC News Brasil.

“Throughout the history of food, through human observation, it becomes the result of a natural conservation method, which occurs through the natural dehydration of the ingredient”, explains Landi.

Gastrologist Karyna Muniz, a consultant specializing in food and drinks, agrees that, like much of the history of food, this consumption began accidentally, by observing the grapes that “fell from the trees and dried naturally in the sun”.

But the taste was pleasing.

“And after the discovery of an intense flavor and a specific sweetness, they began to be widely consumed during Ancient Rome”, says Muniz.

Energy for winter

And if the need for a type of food like raisins was even greater in the intense winters of the northern hemisphere, it is not difficult to understand why the delicacy became common on tables during end-of-year festivities, whether those that already took place before Christian era, be it Christmas celebrations.

“The origin of consumption was due to the winter solstice in the northern hemisphere, which led to the need to consume and store products with a longer shelf life”, says Muniz. “Hence the preference for oilseeds, such as nuts, and dried, dehydrated or dried fruits, as well as sausages, among others.”

Camila Landi highlights that food ended up gaining new meanings.

“It reached the whole world with the same symbolism for the period: the promise to the people of a new cycle of transformations, prosperity and abundance”, points out the historian.

The oldest records of raisins appear in the compilation of ancient writings that would give rise to the Bible, a book considered sacred by most civilizations.

In the Bible, a food linked to sex

Raisins are mentioned quite frequently in the Old Testament.

According to theologian and historian Gérson Leite de Moraes, professor at Universidade Presbiteriana Mackenzie, these quotations can be divided into two types, considering the meanings of the excerpts.

There are passages that associate raisins with erotic aspects and those that value the food as something practical, nutritious and easy to transport and preserve.

“As for sexuality, there are positive and negative aspects”, he explains, in conversation with BBC News Brasil. “In the book Song of Songs, [a uva-passa] appears in a poem written by the wife to her beloved.”

The excerpt praises the husband, saying that “his fruit is sweet to my taste”. And after highlighting that “he makes me enter the tavern, his banner over me is love”, the lyrical self asks the beloved to remake her “with raisin cakes” because she is “lovesick”.

Another passage of a sexual nature is in the book of Hosea, when God rebukes those who “turn to other gods” by engaging in prostitution and adultery. In the text, these “like raisin pies”.

As Moraes explains, “the presence of apples and raisins in the context of sexual relationships draws attention, because they are two foods associated with the aphrodisiac issue.”

The theologian recalls that ancient pagan rituals used to offer the goddess of fertility a raisin cake.

“The difference between the two excerpts is that in the first, the aphrodisiac context is within a marriage approved in the eyes of God; in the second, it is a relationship of promiscuity, prostitution, that is, the food is associated with an environment of adultery” , compare.

Conservation and transport

Another aspect of raisins that stands out in biblical texts is their utility.

“It was an easy-to-carry food, a favorite for travelers in those ancient times. There are several mentions of raisins as an essential ingredient for long journeys”, points out Moraes.

In the first book of Samuel, for example, there is a description of how the character Abigail prepared everything for a long journey. And it says that she “quickly took two hundred loaves of bread, two skins of wine, five ready-made sheep, five measures of parched grain, one hundred bunches of raisins and two hundred fig pies.”

“It was a simple food, dried in the sun, and, when dehydrated, it was easy to handle and store”, says Moraes. “Nutritious, healthy.”

And, given the concentration of sugar, the food gave energy to travelers, who often spent long journeys without anything to eat.

In the book of Samuel, in the middle of the journey, the caravan encounters an Egyptian who had lost “his breath, for for three days and three nights he had not eaten or drunk anything”.

“They gave him bread to eat and water to drink. They also gave him a fig pie and two bunches of raisins”, says the biblical text.

But although they had an important utilitarian value, raisins were not just relegated to this common use – there is also evidence that they were fruits valued in celebrations.

In the first book of Chronicles, when there is the account of David’s proclamation as king of Israel, it is said that those who went to recognize him “stayed there with David for three days, eating and drinking, for his brothers had made preparations for them” .

Next, it is detailed that they “brought food on donkeys and camels, mules and oxen: flour, fig cakes, and raisins, wine, oil, oxen and sheep in abundance, for there was joy in Israel”.

Moraes cites the contexts in which raisins usually appear in the Bible.

“In general, we can say that raisins in the Bible appear in very specific contexts, of travel and parties, and also of heightened sexuality, in the aphrodisiac context”, he summarizes.

Historian Landi adds that the grape “is an element present in several hospitality rites in Ancient Age societies, such as Mesopotamians, Egyptians, Hebrews, Greeks and Romans”.

The fruit is a constant feature at banquets and gatherings, “with records of its consumption and food symbolism linked to abundance, fertility and prosperity”.

Benefits: libido and general health

But the symbolic charge is not by chance. Analyzing the properties of the food, all this semantics finds meaning. First: the idea of ​​concentrated sugar and rich nutrients in a small food, easily carried and stored.

“When we dehydrate a grape, or other ingredient, we preserve its natural sugars and remove its moisture, which makes it even sweeter, concentrated in flavors and nutrients”, says Landi. “There are those who like it and those who hate it. The fact is that this element was a conservation method to avoid the lack of available food and, also, being a source of energy for man.”

Today it is known that raisins bring many health benefits.

According to Muniz, it is considered a superfood, “with nutritional and vital benefits for the health of the body and mind”.

She states that raisins help with intestinal regulation, as they are rich in fiber. They also act to strengthen the immune system, because they contain B complex vitamins, as well as minerals such as iron.

They are beneficial for the heart, because “they are rich in antioxidants that are effective in eliminating cholesterol and cleaning arteries.” These antioxidants also act against free radicals and help prevent the emergence of tumors.

According to the expert, raisins also have anti-inflammatory properties, contribute to oral health, regulate the body’s acidity and, as they contain potassium, strengthen muscles and the nervous system.

Finally, a possible explanation for the aphrodisiac use that appears in the Bible.

“Gives energy: fructose increases energy levels, increasing physical performance in everyday activities”, she comments.

And not only. Today it is known that raisins contain arginine, “an important amino acid for stimulating libido”.

So it’s Christmas: with raisins or without raisins?

Let’s go back to Christmas dinner. By now you already know: like it or not, the ancient custom in the northern hemisphere, especially in the Mediterranean and Mesopotamia regions, was incorporated into Brazil’s festive celebrations.

“It is important to say that the consumption of raisins in food occurs in many foods around the world. Historically, they are used in savory and sweet recipes in different parts of the world”, points out food writer and journalist Rafael Tonon, author of the book The Food Revolutions and coordinator of the master’s degree in Gastronomic Journalism and Communication at the BasqueCulinary Center, in the Basque region of Spain.

He explains that the festive appeal that the ingredient gained on the Brazilian table is precisely the fact that its use is not commonplace.

“For Brazilians, it has become a sporadic thing. And as Christmas calls for a circumstance, a certain pomp, it appears at this time”, says Tonon.

Before polemicizing, Muniz pays attention to the fact that “we need to understand that taste is something particular and individual”.

But she attributes the bad reputation of Christmas raisins to exaggeration, as she sees “excessive use of them in several preparations at the same time in a single night”.

“They are in the farofa, in the rice, in the sausage, in the salad…”, he lists.

Technically, what affects the color of raisins – dark or golden ones – is the dehydration process and not the type of grape.

Nowadays, they are most often made from Thompson or Muscat grapes.

According to the expert, these two varieties are ideal for the process, because they have “thin skin, firm pulp and high sugar content”.

“They are generally produced from fresh grapes classified as ‘fine table grapes’ that do not meet acceptable standards for retail sales”, comments Muniz.

“The brown ones, most of the time, dry in the sun, and this dark color is the result of sunburn, so to speak,” says Tonon. “The sea bream is dried in a dehydrator, at a controlled temperature. This means it can be dried in a more specific process, which does not change its color.”