White Currant

White currants are a light-colored, less-pigmented cultivar group of the redcurrant, Ribes rubrum, a shrub native to Europe, rather than a separate species. Compared with ordinary red currants, they are somewhat smaller and noticeably sweeter, with a sweetly tart flavor, and the berries turn pink rather than white once cooked into jams and jellies, most famously in the prized French preserve Bar-le-duc jelly. They are also eaten raw and made into wines and syrups, and popular cultivars include White Pearl, Blanka, and the French variety Versailles Blanche, first bred in 1843.