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In Celebration of The Apple
Reprising all the good things about apples from past posts and a video about growing apples organically. and a few new things, too.
My favorite apple cake is a Hungarian one, not too sweet, but rich with the flavor of the apples, nuts, and sour cream.
One of the easiest recipes for apples would be to slice them up and saute them with a little butter, a bit of brown sugar, cinnamon, and mace and serve them beside just about anything. Cook down just til the sugar caramelizes a little. You can use whatever your favorite apple pie spices might be, I like them with the cinnamon and mace.
Apple varieties to look for. Cox Orange Pippin? Royal Gala is the modern form of this oldtime apple variety.
My “Happy Thoughts” blog celebrates Apple Cider Time. It points you to informative links like… “What is Real Cider?”
Characteristics of “CIDER”
* not be pasteurized before or after fermentation
* not be filtered
* not receive enzyme treatment
* not contain preservatives or coloring
* not have the natural yeast replaced by a cultured yeast
* not have a nitrogen source added unless essential to start fermentation
* not be diluted
* only contain sweeteners if labeled Medium or Sweet, and then only if they are shown to be safe and do not affect the taste
* be produced from only freshly-pressed fruit, and
* not contain concentrate
* not contain extraneous carbon dioxide
…and…
2nd category:
* not be entirely made from concentrate
* not contain extraneous carbon dioxide
The difference between apple juice and apple cider.
Good cider varieties? Do any of these sound familiar?
For us, this info:
…any apple variety can be pressed into cider. American cider has always relied on a blend of several varieties . Some apples favored by old-time cider makers include American Pippin, Baldwin, Black Oxford, Bullock, Esopus Spitzenberg, Golden Russet, Roxbury Russet, Smith Cider, Sops of Wine, Wagener, and Winesap. These varieties would generally fall in the “Sweet” or “Sweet-Sharp” categories. Likewise, high-flavored European culinary and dessert varieties like Ashmead’sKernel, Bramley’s Seedling, Court Pendu Plat, and Egremont Russet are very suitable for cider blends. And while most modern varieties are a bit bland for great cider, Etter apples like Waltana, Katharine, and Etter’s Gold can hold their own with the older heirlooms.
Three hybrid “crabs”: Atalanta’s Gold™, Etter’s Gold, and Dolgo
The main fault with varieties listed above is a deficiency in the bitter, tannic element. Indeed, connoisseurs have frequently criticized American hard cider for lacking the body and savor that derives from tannin. In the old days, the bitter component could be acquired from the “wild” seedling apples and crabs that sprouted up all over the American landscape. Henry David Thoreau’s essay Wild Apples documents the qualities of these feral fruits for cider blending .
To affirm his championship of small apples and crabs, Thoreau cited the British horticulturalist John Claudius Loudon (1783-1843) on the subject of cider:
” No wonder that these small and high-colored apples are thought to make the best cider. Loudon quotes from the Herefordshire Report that ‘Apples of a small size are always, if equal in quality, to be preferred to those of a larger size, in order that the rind and kernel may bear the greatest proportion to the pulp’….”
From Wild Fruits 1859 by Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862)
