We are now entering the peak season for top fruit, and for the next two months, we’ll be harvesting loads of delicious apples and pears in dozens of varieties. As we lay out the trays, the most common question we get is, “Are they eaters or cookers?” Traditionally, people think of apples as either sweet, crisp, and juicy for eating or fluffy and somewhat bitter for baking.
But are we trapped into thinking inside the box?
Thanks to our orchards, you can explore beyond this Victorian reduction of apples into just two categories. Many of our cultivars serve both purposes, and in my opinion, an apple bake greatly benefits from a mix of many flavours.
Even more surprising is our persistent craving for any apple to be big and red. They are the first to go, and sometimes the only tray to go, on any market display while superior apples that don’t conform to this stereotype go untried. This expectation of our harvest to resemble highstreet market apples stops you from exploring and enjoying one of the biggest perks of our orchards: the sheer variety of cultivars and types at your fingertips.
While I get the crunchy sweetness of a red Braeburn, my personal favourites are our russet apples for their nutty flavours and rugged texture. St Edmunds Pippins (picture below), Egremont Russet, or Cornish Gillyflower have the most amazing and complex tastes of the season. Others delight in the punch of the small Pitmanston Pineapples, the Pixies, or the lemony hints of the heritage Bardsey Island. The list is long!
So why not embrace the treat and privilege of having all these types to explore?
Pick and mix your weekly share of apples from all that is on offer. The price of a mixed bag is the same per weight, but it’s so much more rewarding.