Apple Season
It’s apple season and that marks the start of autumn. There are around 2500 varieties of apples in UK , which means you can have a different tasting apple every day for the next six years. So here is a guide to some of the best apples around and some ideas of how to cook with them.
Jazz apples are a crisp hard apple with an excellent strong sweet-sharp flavour, and a pronounced fruity pear-drop note.
Pink Lady has a good flavour and is deservedly popular. Cripps Pink was developed in the 1970s by John Cripps in Western Australia, and is a cross between Golden Delicious and Lady Williams.
Golden Delicious have become one of the mainstays of supermarket apple sales, along with Red Delicious and Granny Smith. When allowed to ripen, the true flavour is revealed - exceptionally sweet and rich, almost like eating raw sugar cane.
Winter Pearmain is thought to come from Sussex and this is a good general cooking apple but it does sweeten with age, so could be considered a good eating apple as well for later in the season.
Red Prince, the name Red Prince was the idea of the first grower in the Netherlands, Mr Princen, who stumbled upon this seed and continued to grow it after naming it after himself. Many Red Prince apples are placed in a cellar to age for a few months. This practice brings out a tangy-sweet flavour in these apples and makes them sweeter
Bramley apples were initially small, crab-shaped apples grown in the Bramley area of the Forest of Dean in Gloucestershire. The apples were brought to the UK in the 1700s. Bramley apples have a unique tart and spicy flavour, a cross between an apple and a pear.
Evelina apples are a cross between a red delicious and a baking apple. They’re sweet, rich red, and very crisp and juicy. The best way to tell if an apple is an Evelina is if it has a W-shaped indentation on the blossom end.
Gala apples don’t last long on the tree, as they turn brown and fall off before they’re even ripe. The best way to enjoy a gala apple is to eat it right off the tree. Although they’re delicious fresh, galas are also good for baking, making sauce, and even cider.
Cox apples are an excellent choice for baking. They have a sweet and tart flavour paired with various spices and sweeteners.
Braeburn apples are one of the most important commercial apple varieties. They originated in New Zealand in the 1950s. Braeburn's depth of flavour makes its main competition - Red Delicious and Golden Delicious - seem one-dimensional in comparison. At a time when consumers were starting to look for something less bland in their weekly shopping, Braeburn was the right apple at the right time.
Granny Smith
Perhaps the most instantly recognisable of all apple varieties and one of the most widely known, Granny Smith is also one of Australia's most famous exports. The story is that it was discovered in Australia in the 1860s as a seedling growing in the remains of a rubbish tip. Granny Smiths are acidic and is a crisp hard apple with a very sharp taste.
For a great guide to all things apples look at https://www.orangepippin.com
Cooking With Apples
Slow cooker pork fillet with apples
Pork and apples is a classic combination and the meat is all the more tender when slow-cooked for four hours. Serve with greens for a complete, healthy meal
Roast pork and crackling with apples, lemon and thyme
Try Gill Meyer’s one-dish recipe for succulent roast pork and crispy crackling, cooked with apples and seasoned with fennel seed, sage, lemon and thyme. This recipe is taken from Gill’s book Time: A Year and a Day in the Kitchen.
Cavolo Nero, Apple and Mint Salad
Julia Busuttil Nishimura’s crunchy winter salad with cavolo nero, apple, mint, celery and croutons works fantastically well as a healthy lunch or interesting side dish. This recipe is adapted from A Year of Simple Family Food