The sweetness of the forbidden fruit

Even the most superficial acquaintance with world mythology is enough to understand that an apple is a special fruit. In the Old Testament, it serves as a metaphor for the highest wisdom inaccessible to man and a symbol of the fall of Adam and Eve. In the Homeric Iliad, it is the apple with the inscription “Most Beautiful”, presented by Paris to the goddess Aphrodite, bypassing her more powerful rivals, Athena and Hera, that becomes the root cause of the Trojan War. In pre-Christian Scandinavia, magical golden apples kept by the fertility goddess Idunn were considered a source of eternal youth and beauty. The name of the island of Avalon, a wonderful land where, according to Celtic legends, King Arthur, immersed in a thousand-year sleep, rests, is translated as “the land of apples.” One apple, which fell on the head of Isaac Newton, is credited with a key role in the discovery of the law of universal gravitation, and another, shot down by an arrow from the head of William Tell from the head of his own son, owes the independence of Switzerland. Actually, even the word “apple” in many languages ​​is interpreted broadly, denoting not only the fruit itself as such, but any fruit in general.

Having become an integral part of mythology and culture, the apple is equally firmly rooted in the gastronomic traditions of Eurasia. In terms of the breadth of use, it knows no equal: strong calvados, sparkling cider, crispy chips, sweet pies, spicy sauces, side dishes for meat dishes, and jam are made from apples. Apples are dried, soaked, fried, baked, caramelized, stewed, boiled and, of course, eaten raw.

In modern Russian cooking, apples are primarily the basis for desserts. Yeast pies, biscuit “charlottes” and baked apples have long become a familiar element of the festive table. In addition, we use apples as a stuffing for chicken or goose, add them to homemade pickles and stewed cabbage, and in the fall, gardeners utilize excess crops by squeezing juice from apples.

However, as the experience of other gastronomic traditions shows, the culinary potential of apples is far from exhausted by this. So, the famous American culinary Julia Child recommends using an apple … in soup: she advises to grate it on a fine grater and add it to pumpkin or parsnip cream soup 10 minutes before the end of cooking – in this form, the apple will give the soup a pleasant sourness and a light fruity aroma. In India, an apple (along with mango and green tomatoes) is one of the most common bases for chutney – a hot sauce. The simplest apple chutney is made with fruit and green chili peppers. To prepare it, you need to heat a little ghee (melted butter – see the article “Milk on the lips”) in a deep frying pan, fry cumin seeds and finely chopped peppers in it, add chopped apples, sugar and a little water, bring to a boil, then Reduce heat and simmer until apples soften and syrup thickens. The resulting sweet and spicy sauce is perfect for meat, poultry, or just crispy Indian pea flour papads.

However, if your views on cooking are somewhat conservative and you prefer to consider an apple primarily as an initial product for preparing sweet dishes, try diversifying your table with light amber jam, for which Antonovka is best suited – the cheapest and most affordable autumn fruit in the world. our latitudes. Cut the apples into quarters, remove the core, then, without removing the peel, cut into small cubes and transfer to a large brass basin. Add sugar (at the rate of one glass per kilogram of apples), cinnamon and leave for a day. After that, put the basin on a small fire, bring the jam to a boil and boil for 10-15 minutes, then cool to room temperature and repeat the procedure. Believe me, the idea of ​​sharpening a summer-juice-drenched, sun-drenched apple miracle in a jar will hardly occur to you: enjoying the taste of the fruit, which Carl Gustav Jung called the “symbol of life”, will most likely be so strong that you won’t want to break away from him for the sake of something so mundane.