When love is clearly noticeable but not tangible, even patient people go crazy at some point. Especially when alcohol is involved. “It’s a shame that you can’t stroke a wine,” wrote Kurt Tucholsky. Was the author unhappy in love with red or white wine? Possible. Wine and love actually have some things in common: At the beginning it is stimulating and inebriated, later on a warm feeling in the stomach, which can also turn into a bad aftertaste and, in the worst case, a hangover through complicated biochemical processes. It is no coincidence that ex-partners are called “ex-partners”.
You don’t have to be a psychologist or oenologist to refute Tucholsky. Yes, you can stroke wine! Not in the liquid and fermented state, but in its original form as a grape. Orthodox wine lovers claim that it is a waste not to press grapes and eat them raw instead. But the advantages are pretty obvious: 1. no glass necessary, 2. petting is possible, 3. no hangover. Okay, no intoxication for that either.
It is a myth that a few glasses of wine a day are good for your health Studies refuted. Red wine does contain polyphenols, which are among the cell-protecting antioxidants. These secondary plant substances are mainly contained in the unprocessed grapes (and in many other types of fruit and vegetables). So if you minimize alcohol consumption and maximize the consumption of grapes and other fruits, you are really doing something for your health. Even the Greek doctor Hippocrates recognized: the first glass of wine is for health, the second glass for happiness, the third for a good night’s sleep – and every further glass is a danger.
The healing powers of grapes, on the other hand, were praised in ancient times. Immature should help with sore throats, raisins with tuberculosis and constipation. Ripe grapes were considered a remedy for cholera, smallpox, nausea, skin and eye infections, and kidney and liver diseases. Today we know that most of the healthy substances are found in grape seeds.
Grapes are appetizing vitamin pills that you can quickly throw in between meals. After apples and bananas, grapes are the third most popular fruit among Germans, ahead of strawberries. From June to autumn, most of the grapes come from southern Europe, otherwise from Chile or South Africa. The main season is September to November. Most of them are used in the production of wine and sparkling wine, in the spirit of Tucholsky, a smaller part is consumed as table grapes, the rest is dried and sold as raisins, currants or sultanas.
Grapes have long been considered a superfood, but they are underestimated in cooking
Recently, grapes have even been traded as superfoods because they contain so much fiber and nutrients, vitamins, magnesium and potassium. Their suitability for sweet and salty to savory dishes is still underestimated. The acidity of the grape comes into its own especially in combination with nuts, vegetables and cheese, for example in a salad with beetroot, sheep’s cheese, horseradish and walnuts.
By the way, grapes can not only be consumed in liquid form as wine or in their raw state, you can, surprise, also roast or boil them. They give risotto and pasta dishes a fresh note; braised grapes also go very well with game and fried fish. Sweet, sour and savory notes harmonize in an original recipe that can be implemented quickly and easily: Gnocchi with grapes, nuts and Gorgonzola.
To do this, melt 50 g butter in a pan. Add 300 g grapes (preferably muscatel or a small red variety) and stew briefly until they are soft but not wrinkled. Remove and set aside for later. Chop a clove of garlic, sauté with black pepper. Pour 100 ml of cream, stir in 250 g of Gorgonzola and let it melt. Cook the gnocchi in salted water and add to the sauce with the grapes in the pan. Depending on the consistency of the sauce, add a little cooking water. Roast a handful of chopped hazelnuts in a pan without fat and sprinkle over the gnocchi. Season with salt and pepper and finish with grated parmesan. A nice glass of wine with it – and you just want to sit there, declaim Tucholsky poems and stroke something or someone.