In praise of apples!

Recently I commented on the fact that Steve Jobs went through a period when he lived on apples and carrots. Well, I think he would have appreciated the little nugget of information I picked up over the weekend: last Saturday, the 21st of October, was Apple Day!!!

I read about it in yesterday’s paper. There I discovered that it is an annual celebration of apples and orchards, celebrated mainly in the United Kingdom. Hardly surprising since it seems to have been invented here back in 1990, the brainchild of a British environment group, Common Ground. They were concerned about the ongoing disappearance of orchards. They say that things are improving now although marketing British apples seems to be a problem: “supermarkets were always a problem and they still are. Only one in three apples we eat comes from the Uk and they are still selling apples from Australia. They are just not thinking. They could do much better.”

However, they seem pleased with Apple Day, which they say has become a new harvest festival. Here’s a bit of detail:

 “It traditionally falls on 21 October, the date of the first such event in 1990, but events are held throughout the month. It is commonly a weekend event, usually taking place on the Saturday and Sunday closest to 30 October.

Apple Day events can be large or small, from apple games in a garden to large village fairs with cookery demonstrations, games, apple identification, juice and cider, gardening advice, and the sale of many hundreds of apple varieties.”

Clearly there is the makings of a real, Spanish style, food-item fiesta there. Perhaps the whole thing could serve as a run-up to Hallowe’en. I remember social gatherings at our local church at this time of year when I was a child. Because the church could not be seen to be supporting such pagan rituals as Hallowe’en, it was always advertised as a “hotpot supper”, serving traditional Lancashire hotpot, of course, with pickled red cabbage, in the church hall which was decorated with pumpkin lanterns. The Boy Scouts and Girl Guides would put in entertainments and there would be silly games like “bobbing for apples”. Apples were floated in a tub of water and people who were not afraid of getting wet were encouraged to make fools of themselves trying to catch an apple with their teeth. Oh, we knew how to amuse ourselves back in the time before Hallowe’en was all about “trick or treat”.

Maybe someone should introduce Apple Day into Asturias, where they make a lot of cider and serve it in their own idiosyncratic way, holding the glass low and the bottle high and looking away from the whole thing as they pour.

And then there could be a day for each fruit in turn. After all, there is already the Magosto in Galicia, a celebration of the chestnut harvest.

One website waxed poetical about the whole thing:

Here’s to thee, old apple tree,

Whence thou mayst bud

And whence thou mayst blow!

And whence thou mayst bear apples enow!

Hats full! Caps full!

Bushel—bushel—sacks full,

And my pockets full too! Huzza!
—
South Hams of Devon, 1871

Braeburn, Discovery, Red Jonagold, a million varieties with a million evocative names, and each one more delicious than the last. Every year the orchards spill forth a cavalcade of crimson, gold, and green, and it’s not just the leaves of Autumn. On the heels of this rolling bounty comes the rich smell of apple pies, spicy ciders both alcoholic and not, and all the tastes and smells of this seasonal treat.” 

No mention of Coxes Orange Pippins though - the best apples in the world.