Why most Americans have never had these berries

Great squash!

India jumped on to the wine bandwagon relatively recently. Before that , black currants were the common dried fruit you'd find in my state.
Grapes were a luxury item till wine production started here, and the wine isn't half bad. Try Sula wines if you're into it. Black currants though were found a dime a dozen.

In fact, the most popular "dad" flavour of ice cream is still Black Currant. I have no idea why, but dads always order black currant and moms go for vanilla. As someone in his thirties with no kids, I'll admit, i find myself picking black currant more and more these days. I don't know why.

Gooseberries too, if you eat them fresh, are the richest source of vitamin c. Catch is getting them down your throat, they're too sour. But they sure beat scurvy. Candied ones taste better. Not much vitamin c there.

Tastes like grapes got a law degree 😂

worse crime is them banning gooseberries!

I tried some in Colombia. They were gross. Borderline inedible

wow, i didnt know they are outlawed in the USA, i m german and those berries, ((all 3 colored variants)) are the best, as a kid i ate them right where they grew

Common soda drink in form of Schorle in Germany. Now this gives me an idea for a treat when our US colleagues cross the pond the next time.

I have one comment. PUT THE RIBENA IN THE GLASS FIRST!. Are you a barbarian? 😀

I have an old recipe for a hunter sauce that uses blackcurrent jam that I would make for fresh ham.

And you not yest tasted blackcurrant liquor. Also you should try gooseberry, which is really 2-in-1 deal – those green underdeveloped berries is acidic and crunchy while ripe red one is sweet.

As im from the uk, ribena is so god dam good and everyone needs it 🙂

Oh wow, i was like “whats this about? ive had black currants! from proper pie!” turns out youre in richmond lolll

I can still remember as a child. When there were big family celebrations, the children were often given black currant juice as a substitute for wine. Because the adults drank red wine and the children got the juice. I love all kinds of blackcurrants. Juice, jam, fruit spread, cake… and pure. But poor America hasn't gotten any smarter since then. We also have America to thank for the canabis dilema.

Now I have to add Blackcurrant items to my Euromart shopping trip! Thank you for all of these "forbidden foodstuffs" ideas!

As a Chinese American the first time I ever heard of “black currant” was when I traveled to central Europe. I grew up around asian supermarkets and lots of “weird” and exotic fruit, so I was shocked that there was a fruit that I had never heard of in my life.

oh jeez– be nice if you could understand what quarantine is really about or how really difficult it is to control invasive species, pests or diseases. If the black currant was banned or eradicated, it was for good reason and because there was virtually no other way to control the disease. Moreover, it's not native plant. maybe instead of squawking about your emotionally impoverished life without black currant juice, you could go out and pick elderberries or huckleberries and eat native fruits and plants. Yes, agree totally, the gov has a right to ban or prohibit potentially invasive species or risky plants/animals due to disease. So where's your pet mongoose? Maybe you should whine about that as well. poor child.

Blackcurrant is the absolute best flavour of sweets and squash which is what Brits call the diluted fruit juice drink like the Ribena Phil drinks here.
Interestingly, there is also a squash called Vimto which is a combination of blackcurrant and grape flavour. Some people love it but I'm not a fan – I think it tastes like an anagram of its name.

I grew up as an American in Asia and Europe. When I came back to the States to go to college, not being able to get Ribena was one of the hardest parts of my culture shock – well, that and having to relearn an entire slangverse. Yes, I just said slangverse.

Apple and blackcurrant juice is common in Australia.

England here. In my back garden rite now are at least a dozen black currant shrubs as well as a hand full of red currants and various goose berries. Just love them. Also for note there are now variants of black currant that are fungal resistant and therefore legal to grow in many states in the US.