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Apple

THE Apple in its composition consists of vegetable fibre, albumin, sugar, gum, chlorophyll, malic acid, earthy lime salts, and much water. German food-chemists teach that this fruit contains phosphates more abundantly than any other edible garden product. Apples also afford "lecithin," a phosphorated compound derived chemically from glyco-phosphoric acid. The juice of Apples (when no cane sugar is taken with them) becomes converted within the body into alkaline carbonates, and will neutralize acid products of indigestion, or gout. The common source of the term Apple in all its forms has been attributed to the Latin "Abella," a town in Campania, where fruit trees abound, and which is therefore styled "malifera," or applebearing, by Virgil. The acids of Apples (malic and tartaric) are of signal use for men of sedentary habits whose livers are torpid; they serve to eliminate from the body noxious matters which would, if retained, make the brain heavy and dull, or would produce jaundice, or perhaps eruptions on the skin. Some such an experience has led to our taking Apple-sauce with roast pork, roast goose, and similar rich dishes. Two or three Apples eaten at night, either baked, or raw, or taken with breakfast, are useful against constipation. "They do easily and speedily pass through the belly; therefore they do mollify the belly." A dish of stewed Apples eaten three times daily has worked wonders in cases of confirmed drunkenness, giving the person eventually an absolute distaste for alcohol, in whatever form. A certain aromatic principle is possessed by the Apple on which its particular flavour depends, this being a fragrant essential oil, the "valerianate of amyl," which occurs in a small but appreciable quantity. The analysis of cider (fermented apple-juice) shows the presence therein of salicylic acid, formalin, malic acid, and other chemical constituents. 66 The digestion of a ripe, raw Apple occupies only eighty-five minutes, whilst the malic acid of such fruit, cooked, or raw, will help to digest meat in the stomach, as likewise the casein of sound cheese. Bearing in mind our first Mother Eve, and the forbidden fruit as the beginning of all our mortal woes, the apple, according to the law of similars, ought homœopathically to be the cure for original sin" (Mark Guy Pearse).

Sour Apples should be chosen for cooking, and must not be sliced too thin, else the juice runs out, and they become tough. In not a few cases the dried apple-rings of to-day have been deprived beforehand of their fresh juices by immersion in a water-bath after paring, coring, and slicing the fruit. These juices are made into independent Apple jelly; and the "snitz," or pulp, into the evaporated "apple rings." In Jane Austen's novel, Emma (1816), we learn that it was customary then, as a social English refection, to serve baked Apples during afternoon calls by visitors in the country. "Dear Jane," said Miss Bates, "makes such a shocking breakfast, but about the middle of the day she gets hungry, and there is nothing she likes so well as these baked Apples, and they are extremely wholesome, for I took the opportunity the other day to ask Dr. Perry; and when I brought out the baked Apples the other afternoon, and hoped our friends would be so obliging as to take some, 'Oh,' said Mr. Churchill, 'there is nothing in the way of fruit half so good; and these are the finest-looking home-baked Apples I ever saw in my life.' 'Indeed, they are very delightful Apples,' was the reply, 'only we do not have them baked more than twice, but Mr. Woodhouse made us promise to have them baked three times."

Biffins are Apples peculiar to Norfolk, being so called from their close resemblance in colour to raw beef. Dickens, in his charming little story, Boots at the "Holly Tree Inn," tells that when Mrs. Harry Walmers, junior, was overcome with fatigue, the restorative which Boots was desired to procure was a Norfolk biffin. "I think a Norfolk biffin would rouse her, Cobbs," said Master Harry. This particular fruit was formerly dried in the oven until shrunk up, and leathery. When cooked it was stewed in syrup, until soft, and of its original size, being esteemed as a delicacy by the youngsters when they came down to dessert. In France, be it noted, these biffins are called "Pommes bonne femme."

Apples, when stored in a room, absorb oxygen from the air, and give off carbonic acid gas, so that after a while the atmosphere of this room would extinguish a lighted candle brought into it, as likewise the life of a small animal. But such an atmosphere tends to preserve the fruit, because decay is arrested through the deficiency of oxygen; therefore an apple-room should be air-tight. "The rotten apple," says a suggestive old proverb, "injures its neighbours." Again, Shakespeare has told us in Henry V: "Faith, as you say, there's small choice in rotten apples." In The Life of Samuel Johnson it is related that the direction of his untutored studies was determined at sixteen or seventeen, by finding in his father's bookseller's shop at Lichfield a folio of Petrarch on a shelf, where he was looking for apples. The juices of Apples become matured and lose their rawness by keeping the fruit a certain time. These juices (as likewise those of the pear, the peach, the plum, and other such fruits), when taken without any addition of cane sugar, diminish acidity in the stomach rather than provoke it, becoming converted chemically into alkaline products which correct sour fermentation. A poultice made of rotten Apples is commonly used in Lincolnshire for relieving weak, or rheumatic eyes. Likewise in Paris an Apple poultice is employed for inflamed eyes, the Apple being roasted, and its soft pulp applied over the eyes without any intervening substance. "The paring of an Apple cut somewhat thick, and the inside of which is laid to hot, burning, or running eyes at night when the party goes to bed, and is tied, or bound to the same, doth help the trouble very speedily, and contrary to expectation; an excellent secret." A French physician has lately discovered that the bacillus of typhoid fever cannot live beyond a very short time in apple-juice; and he therefore advises persons who reside where the drinking water is not above suspicion to mix cider therewith before imbibing it. Francatelli gives as a recipe for apple-water, to be drunk during fever: "Slice up thinly three or four Apples without peeling them, and boil these in a very clean saucepan with a quart of water, and a little sugar, until the slices of apple become soft; then strain the apple-water through a piece of muslin into a jug, and give it cold to the patient. If desired, a small cutting of the yellow rind from a lemon may be added, just enough to give the drink a flavour." Again, for baked-apple water: "Wash three large Apples, and bake them (unpeeled) until quite soft; then pour over them a pint of boiling water, stir well, and sweeten to taste; strain afterwards when cold. This makes an excellent refreshing drink." Likewise a sour Apple cut up, and boiled until soft produces an excellent tea to abate thirst. For apple soup, "take half a pound of Apples, peeled and cored, and one pint of water, with two teaspoonfuls of cornflour, one and a half tablespoonfuls of moist sugar, one saltspoonful of powdered cinnamon, and some salt to taste. Stew the apple in the water until it is very soft; then mix together into a smooth paste the cornflour, sugar, cinnamon, and salt, with a little cold water; pour this in with the apple, and boil all for five minutes; strain into a soup tureen, and keep it hot until ready to serve. It may be eaten with sippets of toast."

The Apple is curative in chronic dysentery, whilst from the bark of the stem, and the root of the Apple tree (as likewise of the peach, and plum trees), a glucoside is to be obtained in small crystals which possesses the peculiar property of inducing artificial diabetes in animals to whom it is given; wherefore this same glucoside is to be commended remedially in human diabetes when coming on from spontaneous causes.

A nice way of cooking Apples, as practised at the Cape, is to "wipe the apples, but do not peel them; core, quarter, and cut into slices. Have ready some syrup (made in the proportion of one pound of sugar to a pint of water) boiled quickly for five minutes, using either moist, or crystallized sugar; throw the apples into the boiling syrup, and boil rapidly for one hour, stirring frequently. The juice should then be clear, and jellied, and stiff, since the watery parts have been driven off in steam by the rapid boiling. Allow one pound of sugar to six fair-sized apples. Cloves, cinnamon, or lemon-peel may be added according to taste." The love of Apple pie is as strong in New as in old England, folks being partial in the former to a combination of cheese therewith. S. T. Coleridge is reported to have said that a man could not have a pure mind who refused to eat Apple dumplings. 66 Thy breath," exclaims a swain of the Elizabethan times to his lady-love, "is like the steame of apple pyes." Sydney Smith, when writing to Lady Holland, September, 1829, tells concerning Mr. Lutrell: "He came over for a day, from whence I know not, but I thought not from good pastures; at least he had not his usual soup and pattie look; there was a forced smile upon his countenance which seemed to indicate plain roast, and boiled, and a sort of apple-pudding depression, as if he had been staying with a clergyman."

For a meal to satisfy hunger when the supplies are short, many prescriptions have been given, from Franklin's famous mess of gruel with bread crumbled into it, so as to amplify the food, and make it filling at the price, down to the "cheap living" recipe of an American writer, who has advised his readers to "first eat two cents worth of dried Apples, and afterwards drink a quart of water to swell them out as a bellyful."

Pippins are Apples which have been raised from pips. Concerning Lincolnshire pippins, wrote Fuller in his Book of Worthies (1642): "With these we will close the stomach of the reader, being concluded most cordial by physicians. Some conceive them not above a hundred years seniority in England. However, they thrive best, and prove best in this county of Lincoln, and particularly about Kirton, whence they have acquired the addition of 'Kirton pippins,' a wholesome, and delicious apple."

A Codling is an Apple which needs to be " coddled," stewed, or lightly boiled, being yet sour, and unfit for eating whilst raw. The Squab pie, famous in Cornwall, contains Apples, and onions allied with mutton. "Of wheaten walls erect your paste, Let the round mass extend its breast :

Next slice your apples picked so fresh; Let the fat sheep supply its flesh; Then, add an onion's pungent juice- A sprinkling-be not too profuse !

Well mixt these nice ingredients, sure, May gratify an epicure."

For Apple-cake, peel, and slice thinly six pounds of good baking apples; dissolve four pounds of lump sugar in a pint of water; add the apples, flavoured with lemon-peel and cloves, and boil for one hour. Put into moulds, and keep in a cool, dry place. They will remain good for a long time. Some cooks ornament with split bleached almonds, and call this "apple hedgehog." "Long while, for ages unimproved we stood, And Apply Pye was still but homely food, When God-like Edgar of the Saxon Line, Polite of Taste, and Studious to refine, In the Dessert Perfumery Quinces cast, And perfected with Cream, the rich repast.

Hence we proceed the outward parts to trim, With crinkum cranks adorn the polished brim, And each fresh Pye the pleased spectator greets With Virgin Fancies, and with New Conceits."

Art of Cookery 1709.

An apple and apricot pudding gives the best flavoured preparation of apples that is made, particularly when Grey Russets, or Wellingtons are used. This pudding is provided with a suet crust, and is carefully boiled.

In America "Apple slump" is a pie consisting of Apples, molasses, and bread crumbs, baked in an earthen pan. This is known to New Englanders as "Pan dowdy," a very popular dish in some parts of Canada. It is made there in a deep earthen baking dish which has been liberally buttered all over the inside, and then lined with slices of scones well buttered, and sprinkled with nutmeg and cinnamon. Some good-sized apples are peeled, cored, and shred, with which the dish is to be filled, adding half a cup of water poured in, also a cupful of brown sugar, and two tablespoonfuls of molasses. The dish is then finished off with a crust of sliced scones, and covered over by a plate, to be baked in a slow oven for one and a half hours. When done, the "Pan dowdy" is turned out, and served with sweet sauce, or cream, if appropriate. This is an excellent form of food for growing children in cold weather.

The botanical name of an apple tree is Pyrus malus, of which schoolboys are wont to make ingenious uses by playing on the latter word :- "Malo, I had rather be, Malo, in an apple-tree, Malo, than a wicked man, Malo, in adversity.

Or, again, "Mea mater mala est sus," which bears as its most literal translation, "My mother is a depraved old sow," but the intentional reading of which signifies, “Run, mother! the sow is eating our apples." The term "Adam's apple," which is applied to the most prominent part in front of a person's neck, is based on the superstition that a piece of the forbidden fruit stuck in Adam's throat, and caused this lump to remain. When Sam Weller, in Pickwick, had to affix his signature to a couple of legal instruments at the Bank of England for proving his mother-in-law's will, this undertaking, "from Mr. Weller's habit of printing, was a work of so much labour and time that the officiating clerk peeled, and ate three Ribstone pippins while it was performing." "There was concocted in Gerard's day an ointment with the pulpe of apples, and swines' grease, and rosewater, which was used to beautifie the face, and to take away the roughnesse of the skin, and which was called in the shops 'pomatum,' from the apples, 'poma' whereof it was prepared." Figuratively the "apples of Sodom" signify something which disappoint one's hopes, or frustrate one's desires. They symbolize a fruit which was formerly reputed to grow on, or near the site of the Biblical city, Sodom. It was, as described by Josephus, and other writers, externally of fair appearance, but turning to smoke and ashes when plucked.

Among the Thebans of old the apple was held sacred to Hercules. They were long accustomed to offer a sheep annually on the altar of this deity, but upon one occasion, because of the river being swollen with heavy rains, they could not convey the sheep across it for such a purpose. Therefore, knowing the Greek word "meelon" to signify both a sheep and an apple, they substituted the latter, having stuck wooden pegs in its under surface to represent the sheep's legs; and this fruit they dedicated to the god always afterwards.

Very pathetic are the verses of Christopher Cranch (1880) in Busy, Crowded New York City, touching 66