Apple: A Global History PDF
Preview Apple: A Global History
APPLE Edible Series Editor: Andrew F. Smith is a revolutionary new series of EDIBLE books dedicated to food and drink that explores the rich history of cuisine. Each book reveals the global history and culture of one type of food or beverage. Already published Bread Lobster William Rubel Elisabeth Townsend Milk Cake Nicola Humble Hannah Velten Pancake Caviar Nichola Fletcher Ken Albala Olive Champagne Becky Sue Epstein Fabrizia Lanza Pie Cheese Andrew Dalby Janet Clarkson Pizza Chocolate Carol Helstosky Sarah Moss and Alexander Badenoch Potato Andrew F. Smith Sandwich Curry Colleen Taylor Sen Bee Wilson Soup Dates Nawal Nasrallah Janet Clarkson Spices Hamburger Fred Czarra Andrew F. Smith Tea Hot Dog Bruce Kraig Helen Saberi Whiskey Ice Cream Laura B. Weiss Kevin R. Kosar Apple A Global History Erika Janik REAKTION BOOKS To my mom, who liberally peanut-buttered my apple slices as a child Published by Reaktion Books Ltd 33 Great Sutton Street London EC1V 0DX, UK www.reaktionbooks.co.uk First published 2007 Copyright © Erika Janik 2011 All rights reserved No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publishers. Page references in the Photo Acknowledgements and Index match the printed edition of this book. Printed and bound in China by C&C Offset Printing Co. Ltd British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data Janik, Erika. Apple : a global history. – (Edible) 1. Apples – History. 2. Cooking (Apples). 3. Cider – History. 4. Cooking (Dates) I. Title II. Series 64I.34’II-DC22 eISBN9781861899583 Contents Introduction 1 From Almaty to America 2 Food of Legend 3 Cider 4 Wholesome Apple 5 Global Apple Picking the Perfect Apple Recipes Select Bibliography Websites and Associations Acknowledgements Photo Acknowledgements Index Introduction Although I grew up in Washington state, a place known for its apples, my first transcendent apple experience occurred 2,000 miles away in Wisconsin – a place more known for its cheese, sausage and beer than its apples. But there, at the Dane County Farmers Market in Madison, a homely, yellow-brown, faintly blushed Pink Pearl apple seduced its way into my bag and, later that night, turned my Red Delicious world upside down. The crisp skin gave way to a marbled pink and white interior so alternately sweet and tart on first bite that tears sprang to my eyes. How could an apple taste so good? And why had it taken more than two decades of good – but frankly, not great – apple consumption to reach this point? The apple market had clearly changed since this hard-to-find Pink Pearl apple was developed in 1944, a descendant of an ancient line of red-fleshed Turkish crab apples. Although thousands of apple cultivars are known around the world, barely twenty varieties are widely available in local supermarkets. Those twenty varieties account for 90 per cent of all apples consumed. Apples were one of the first fruits cultivated by humans and have long been one of the most important fruits in Europe, North America and other temperate regions of the globe – both for food and drink. But today apples have become global commodities, valued more for their long storage life and transportability than for their astonishing variety and flavour. William Morris, ‘Apple’ wallpaper, 1877. The apple’s story is, as Henry David Thoreau observed, remarkably ‘connected with that of man’. Born in the mountains of Kazakhstan, it has travelled the globe and become, through its own prodigality and attachment to people, a species at home almost anywhere. The apple did such a convincing job of making itself at home in America that many Americans wrongly assume the fruit is a native. Enmeshed in the folklore and history of nations around the globe, apples have been associated with love, beauty, luck, health, comfort, pleasure, wisdom, temptation, sensuality and fertility – and all this in addition to being just good eating and drinking. The apple has achieved its global prominence through its adaptability to local cultures and climates, its convenience and nutritional value, and its easy transport over long distances; all qualities that allowed the apple to infiltrate the world’s soil and change how people ate in the process.
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