The audible crack as your teeth pierce the skin, juice spurting out and sinking into a sharp and crisp flesh that’s as refreshing as gnashing on an iceberg; apples are a real sweet treat and an absolute thing of beauty. They’re as old as the hills; where else do you find such a fruit taking centre stage in the Bible (a fatal bite proved too tempting in the story of Adam and Eve), in Isaac Newton’s discovery of a little thing we like to call gravity and in Disney’s Snow White? Safe to say, this fine fruit is here to stay!
Floury to crisp, vibrant green to dark red, fist-sized to tiny Crab Apple; there’s a whole word to discover. It’s said that the pinker and smaller, the better the taste, but there’s something to be said of a doorstop-sized cooking apple that’s as tart as you like, an icy and crisp Granny Smith and the unique taste of the almost pear-like Pippin. Golden Delicious, Braeburn, Jonagold, Pink Lady, Jazz… how many varieties can you name?
Not solely the preserve of raw snacking or slicing into breakfasts dishes, Apples are the ideal ingredient in many lunches and dinners too. Roast pork with apple sauce, sticky caramelized apples with salty cheese and toasted walnuts, thinly-sliced apple sticks in a creamy and sharp homemade coleslaw…. The list goes on!
Some of our favourite bloggers are doing excellent things with apples, like Donal Skehan’s crispy eggs, black pudding, boxty and apple salad; Roz Purcell’s protein-rich upside down apple cake with coconut cream; Rosanna’s Kitchen’s sweet potato and apple hash browns; Aoife Carroll’s cinnamon honey baked apples from Eat Well, Travel Far…; and Michelle from Peachy Palate’s Paleo sprout, bacon and apple salad.
At the office or while we’re out and about on-the-go we particularly love chunky slices of apples dipped in fresh nut butter and if you haven’t tasted the heaven that is one slice of apple and one slice of strong cheese eaten together then you haven’t lived.
Apples boast Vitamin C and come loaded with fibre to keep you full – as well as keeping everything ticking over all regular – and also have a fantastic balance of natural sugars so your blood sugar levels won’t hit the roof as you indulge a craving for sugary goodness. Always give them a rinse if they’re not organic. That thin but crunchy skin is a well-documented retainer of pesticides used in crop growing.
Whether you’re a light nibble round the outside, hefty chunk taker or a demolish-in-three-bites (including the entire core) apple indulger, there’s any amount of varieties to choose from, all with subtle tasting notes and lesser-spotted differences.
Make apples your #1 snack – keep your office topped up every week with a Fruit People fruit basket delivery.
