Apple Cookbook (2 page)

It’s not only their year-round availability that makes apples so desirable in the United States; there are a host of other reasons why they’re America’s number one fruit:

They are delicious, versatile, and easily portable.

They are nutritious, providing satisfying bulk and few calories. (See page 130 for information on nutritional values.)

They are 85 to 95 percent water, so if you put one into your pocket or lunch box, you can quench your thirst whenever the need arises.

Their acid content acts as a natural mouth freshener, which makes apples a perfect ending to a meal.

They are believed to have many other healthful properties. (See page 183 for further information.)

When Eve was tempted by the serpent in the Garden of Eden to eat “of the tree which is forbidden,” she “saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make
one wise.” No doubt she was also quite taken by the shape, color, and smell of this “fruit of the gods.”

Imagine yourself picking up an apple for the very first time. Turn it around in your hand. If it’s one of the russet apples, it will feel rough and dry, not at all like a red-on-yellow Empire with its satiny smooth and tender skin. Hold it to your nose and breathe deeply. The smooth-skinned Empire will have a delicate smell that is well contained by its smooth and slightly oily skin. The rough skin of a ripe russet, on the other hand, will exude a tantalizing fragrance.

Most of the perfume cells are concentrated in the skin of an apple. As the apple ripens, the cells give off a stronger aroma. That is why applesauce is most flavorful when made from apples with the skin left on and the best cider is made from the aromatic, tough-skinned russets.

Rosy pink applesauce gets its color from the flesh, not from the skin — unless the skin has been puréed with the flesh to become an integral part of the sauce. The pigments trapped in the skin cells are not released during cooking, crushing, or pressing, because those color cells are impossible to break.

Apple trees not only have taken the fancy of gods and mortals, they attract more than 30 species of birds and a variety of four-legged animals. There are birds that love to nest in the spreading branches. Many birds and beasts feast on the buds, bark, and leaves. The ripe, fallen apples are favored by porcupines, skunks, fox, and deer. Opossums, raccoons, and bears all climb the limbs to get at apple-laden branches.

Although hundreds of varieties of apples are grown in the United States, only 20 or so best-sellers are cultivated in the major commercial orchards. Commercial apples are chosen not for their wonderful taste but for their bountiful harvest; their suitability to mass planting, shipping, and long storage; and their resistance to diseases.

The orchards are invaded by armies of apple pickers as early as July, but it is not until the cooler temperatures of September have touched this “fruit of immortality,” as it was once called, that an apple takes on those crisp and crunchy qualities so important to orchardists and apple lovers. It is in autumn that a bite into a fresh-picked apple becomes a memorable experience; the apple spurts juice that is honey sweet and yet also spicily tart, and the flesh is so fragrantly mellow.

After December, these fall beauties come to us from controlled storage — somewhere between 32 and 36°F. This controlled atmosphere helps to maintain the crisp qualities of the fall-harvested apples for several months. Today, shoppers find that a reasonable selection of apples is available after the last of the fresh harvest disappears into cold storage. From January through June, most of us can find such good keepers as Braeburn, Fuji, Gala, Golden Delicious, Granny Smith, Ida Red, McIntosh, Red Delicious, and Rome Beauty. In fact, Granny Smith, Golden Delicious, and Red Delicious are now available to us year round.

Detailed descriptions of apple varieties may be found in Meet the Apples: Apple Varieties, pages 168–180.

The decline in the selection of apple varieties can be traced to the end of the 19th century and the advent of commercial orchards. After World War II, the decline was hastened by the horticultural practice of mass-planting only a few reliable varieties that met certain requirements, such as the ability to produce heavy crops, resist diseases, endure long-distance transportation, and last in long-term cold storage. Smooth, evenly colored skin and pleasing shape also factored into the equation. Other varieties were chosen because they were the best candidates for large-scale production of juice, sauce, and pie filling. While these qualities tip the scales in favor of popularity with commercial growers, they narrow the choice of varieties available to consumers, especially those who shop primarily in supermarkets.

Fortunately, apple breeders are constantly developing new varieties that have great growing qualities and taste delicious. Breeders develop new varieties by hybridizing (crossbreeding) two proven varieties.

During the past 10 to 15 years, North America has witnessed an influx of new varieties. Some, such as Fuji, Braeburn, Gala, and Pink Lady, started out as imports from Japan, Australia, and New Zealand. However, because they have many desirable qualities that appeal to both growers and consumers, they have been mass planted throughout the United States. Today, most of these newcomers have reached their growth potential in U.S. orchards and are just beginning to swing into full production.

While pomologists (apple breeders) are primarily concerned with developing hybrid varieties that are resistant to the major apple diseases (scab, fire blight, mildew, and cedar apple rust), quality attributes are also stressed.

A number of modern-day apple varieties are endowed with sweet-tart, juicy, crisp flesh. For example, Honeycrisp, a hybrid cross between Macoun and Honeygold developed at the University of Minnesota in 1960, has aromatic, honey sweet, crisp flesh that maintains its outstanding texture and flavor during long-term storage. Jonagold, a cross between Jonathan and Golden Delicious, is a highranking apple in U.S. apple taste tests. Another hybrid offspring of Golden Delicious (crossed with Lady Williams) was developed more recently in Australia. Going by the name of Pink Lady, it is a crunchy, all-purpose apple with a mouthwatering, sweet-tart flavor. It made its consumer debut in October 2000.

Liberty, another hybrid success story, was developed at Cornell University in 1978, by crossing Macoun and an advanced (unnamed) breeding selection. As it matures, its green skin becomes a bright burgundy red, and the crunchy, crisp flesh develops a more pronounced flavor. Liberty’s major contribution to the orchard is that it can be grown without the aid of fungicide or disease-controlling chemical sprays.

Two up-and-coming U.S. varieties originated as chance seedlings. Ginger Gold was discovered growing in Mountain Cove Orchards in Lovingston, Virginia, after surviving the widespread destruction of Hurricane Camille in 1969. Believed to be an offspring of Albemarle Pippin, Ginger Gold is named after Ginger Harvey, who owns the orchard with husband Clyde. A late-summer apple, Ginger Gold has greenish gold skin, pure white flesh and great flavor.

A more recent discovery is Cameo, which was found in the mid 1980s growing in an orchard in the foothills of Washington’s Cascade Mountains. Cameo has cream-colored skin striped with red, and white-on-cream flesh that resists browning. These attractive qualities, along with its crisp texture and sweet-tart flesh, make it a desirable apple for salads and fresh desserts. Its supercrisp flesh holds up well in cooked and baked dishes, but it requires extra cooking time. Cameo was first made available to consumers in October 1998.

One of the most promising trends in our ultramodern times is the return of interest in heirlooms, in wonderful older varieties that got lost in the effort of mass production and distribution. (For information on specific heirloom varieties, see Hardy Antique Apple Varieties, page 176.)

More than 2,500 varieties of apples are grown at the New York State Agricultural Experiment Station in Geneva. One of the oldest agricultural research stations in the country, it is also the location for the United States Department of Agriculture’s (U.S.D.A.) Plant Genetic Resources Unit, which houses the national apple collection. The apple varieties range from historical varieties that originated in Central Asia, to experimental hybrids from heirlooms that were brought as cuttings or trees to America by European and English settlers, to the antique apples of North America that were grown from seeds in the 18th century.