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February 3, 2011

An Apple a Day Keeps the Doctor Away

Thursday Thirteen

Apple Crumble is one of my favorite desserts, which leads me to the main ingredient—apples.

Thirteen Facts About Apples

1. A pippin is an apple grown from a pip.

2. Here’s a centuries old cooking tip: cook or serve apples with fatty meats and the acid will balance the richness.

3. British apple pies have pastry on top. American apple pies have pastry top and bottom. This is according to the magazine article I have on apples. I’m not sure that I agree with this. My mother always used to have pastry top and bottom on her apple pies.

4. Pies came about in medieval times when cooks encased food in a thick pastry crust called a coffin (coffin).

5. A medium apple contains about 80 calories.

6. In Ancient Greece if a man tossed an apple at a woman, he was proposing marriage. If the woman caught the apple she was accepting his proposal.

7. Apples do not grow true to form from seed. They have to be grafted.

8. When baking an apple, score a line around the middle to stop the skins bursting.

9. Apples are the second most popular fruit in New Zealand. Bananas are the most popular fruit.

10. The most widely available cooking apple in New Zealand is the Granny Smith. This apple was named after a little old granny from Kent, England. She emigrated to Sydney, Australia around 1840 – 1850. She and her husband set up an orchard. The granny found an apple seedling growing by a creek and the rest is history.

11. If you’re making apple puree don’t peel the apples. Slice thickly with both peel and pips still intact. Add a knob of butter and a sprinkling of sugar and cover with a piece of butter paper and put on a lid. Cook slowly until apples soften. Pass through a coarse sieve. Eat warm or cold with custard, cream or ice cream, spread over crepes or flavor with sage and serve with roast pork.

12. The most popular apple in New Zealand is the Royal Gala. It’s available from late February to late March. Not long to wait!

13. Each country has developed their own apples. Golden Delicious apples were developed in America. Fuji apples are a Japanese variety. NZ Rose apples are a cross between Gala and Splendor. New apple varieties are being developed all the time.

Source: An article by Julie Biuso in the March 2007 New Zealand Taste magazine.

Do you like apples? Do you have a favorite variety or way to eat apples? As I mentioned earlier I adore apple crumble.

25 Comments

  1. del

    I love apples but I prefer to eat them when they have been cut into quarters and the core removed. I love Pink Lady apples the best.

  2. Darla M Sands

    Number six is a fun fact! Thanks for that. Gala’s are my absolute favorite apple.

  3. Stephanie Bennett

    Great list! I love apples, especially Granny Smith apples. Happy Thursday! :grin:

  4. Kaye Manro

    I like apples — my favorite are the sweet ones. Gafted? Is that from a tree?

  5. Kimberly Menozzi

    I love different types of apples at different points of the year – I just wish so many apple recipes (like a lot of crumbles, for example) didn’t require cinnamon. I’m allergic to that! :(

  6. Mary Kirkland

    I like green granny smith apples. I peel them and cut into quarters and sprinkle salt on them. I know, sounds weird but it’s good.

  7. Maddy Barone

    I love apples! My favorites are the Sweet Tango, and Snow Crisp. My grandpa would pick green apples from the tree and eat them with salt.

  8. Brenda

    Apples are awesome. Good post.

  9. Alice Audrey

    Oh, so that’s what a pippin is. I thought it was a variety, like Macintosh or something.

  10. Heather

    When my sister, niece and I go apple picking every fall, our favorites are the Red Delicious, Golden Delicious and Gala — especially the Gala.

  11. Xakara

    Golden Delicious and Granny Smith apples with caramel. Dipped as a whole apple and rolled in nuts, or cut into slices to dip into caramel sauce, it doesn’t matter it’s all a perfect combination!

    Happy TT

    ~Xakara
    13 Paragraphs Dawn’s Early Light

  12. Pearl

    4 & 10 neat.
    6. hope they warned tourists. :wink:

  13. Mr Munro

    After this TT Shelley has to make my favourite dessert – apple crumble!!

  14. Savannah Chase

    Apples are so yummy. I love apple cider…Great T13.

  15. Mary Quast

    I love apples and we visit our local orchard often. I made a big batch of home made applesauce two days ago… kids love it!

  16. Tatiana Caldwell

    Apples are wonderful. My favorites are McIntosh and Granny Smiths, as well as any apple dipped in caramel and nuts. Yum!

  17. A. Catherine Noon

    I never knew there was so much to know about apples. I moved here to Chicago, Illinois, USA, and they have a bazillion different kinds of apples. The only ones I knew were Red and Golden Delicious and Granny Smith. Now, I know a bunch more and love them. This post added even more new facts about apples! Thank you!

  18. Mercy

    Had no idea about #6. Great list, happy T13.

  19. Shelley Munro

    Kaye – yes. For an apple to breed true a cutting needs to be taken from an existing tree.

  20. Shelley Munro

    Maddy – what great names. We don’t have Sweet Tango and Snow Crisp apples in Mew Zealand.

  21. Shelley Munro

    Mary – I haven’t heard of anyone eating apples and salt together. :grin:

  22. Shelley Munro

    Heather – there’s nothing more delicious than a perfectly ripe apple straight off the tree.

  23. Yvette Davis

    I live in apple country and eat an apple every day! (We also make scrumpy out of them :) Pink Ladies are good, Fujis are good, and I like me some Honeycrisp as well.