Blackcurrants with stones

Joe Public

Did anyone ever come across blackcurrants with stones inside?
I got a present of a hamper at Christmas and it contained a pot of blackcurrant jam but it's a lot of work to eat because you have to go through each one individually and take out the stone. Each stone is almost the size of each currant and are very hard. Each currant definitely look like blackcurrants and taste like blackcurrants and maybe even a little stronger flavour.
The pot has a label like the jam is made in a small enterprise with just ingredients - blackcurrants sugar and water, a best before date and I Thompson which I presume is the name of the person that made the jam.

The question still is - Did anyone ever come across blackcurrants with stones inside?
I did a bit of googling and didn't find any such blackcurrant.

dh0661

Could be damson jam, which is lovely and LOOKS alot like blackcurrant.

The stones part is confusing.

Joe Public

No, it's not damson jam. I've had damson jam before and also picked damsons and know the difference. Damsons look like a smaller version of plums and don't taste like blackcurrants when cooked.

Joe Public

It seems they may be sloe berries with blackcurrants mixed in.

mountainy man

Bullace is a possibility:)

Joe Public

Bullace or damson would be a bit larger than sloe. Since my first posting I've heard of someone who picked up "blackcurant" jam at a country market and encountered stones. He went back the week after and asked about the jam and was told they often use sloes as it's not always easy to get the number of blackcurrants required.

recedite

Sloes would give a strong bitter flavour and a purple colour. I suppose if you packed it out with some turnip and loads of sugar, you would get a passable rip-off of blackcurrant jam.