The farmers' wives also made apple butter in large kettles over open fires. They boiled tart pippins in cider to make a paste, then flavored it with allspice.
The apple was popular on the dessert table too. Tudor pies included ginger and saffron as well as the cinnamon common today.
Apples are still served with goose, pork, and cheese because the canny ancients knew that a side-dish of the fruit would improve their digestion of fatty foods. Although an apple is eighty-five percent water, it also contains acids beneficial to the stomach. The old adage, "An apple a day keeps the doctor away," has won support from modern research. The fruit will cure both constipation and diarrhea. For the latter, John Heinerman recommends eating grated pulp that has been allowed to sit at room temperature to darken for several hours. The oxidized pectin is, he says, similar to the main ingredient in Kaopectate. Strangely enough, though, too much apple juice can cause diarrhea in children.
In countries where cider is a common drink, gallstones are virtually eliminated because pectin reduces cholesterol levels. Apples are also anti-cancer and anti-viral and lower the blood pressure. Apple cider vinegar has been touted as a cure for everything from dandruff and body odor to athlete's foot.
We have no excuse for not "dosing" ourselves with the fruit, either, since there is a variety to suit every palate. As Gerard put it, "Apples do differ in greatnesse, forme, colour, and taste; some covered with a redde skinne, others yellow or greene. . .some are sweete of taste, or something soure; most be of a middle taste. . ." I love the tart and juicy Granny Smiths for snacking. Where apples are concerned, my taste runs more towards the "soure"!
Finally, there is nothing like an apple for topping off a country walk on a brilliant October day. As you bite into the crisp, succulent flesh, you can almost imagine yourself back in that garden planted by God. Or perhaps the truth is, as Chesterton suggests, that we are in Eden still and only our eyes have changed.
Note: Malus sylvestris image is by National Geographic, courtesy of the SW School of Botanical Medicine at:
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