A ripe blackcurrant goes off in your mouth like a firecracker, tart and electric. Known in Japan as kashisu — derived from the French word “cassis” — Ribes nigrum is as juicy as a blueberry, but far more complex, sour and assertive.
Japan isn’t famous for blackcurrants, much less Aomori Prefecture, which is better known for its apples. Blackcurrants evoke images of European summers, fruity cocktails at the izakaya pub or the infamous glass bottles of syrupy Ribena concentrate. (Once owned by British multinational GlaxoSmithKline, the brand was sold to Suntory in 2013.) Yet the city of Aomori produces around 10 to 12 tons of the fruit annually, accounting for around 90 percent of domestic production.
