Raisins can be eaten as a snack or used as a cooking and baking ingredient. But, no matter how you use them, you’ll eventually have a large open package that you don’t intend to finish anytime soon. While drying fruit is a reliable preservation method, and raisins have a much longer shelf life than grapes, raisins can also go bad. Raisins have a one-year shelf life if kept in their original packaging and stored in your pantry.
Raisins are essentially dried grapes. Because the nutrients and sugars in grapes are concentrated throughout the drying process, raisins are nutrition and calorie-dense. Raisins were first discovered in the Middle East and then brought to Europe, particularly popular among the Greeks and Romans. Raisins were once utilized as payment, as prizes in sporting events, and to heal illnesses such as food poisoning. Raisins are now widely available in supermarkets and appear in various hues, depending on the drying procedure employed.
Red and brown raisins are famous for snacking, whereas golden yellow raisins are widely used in baked dishes.
