Apple Sauce
Pare, core and cut in quarters apples that do not cut to pieces easily, and put on to stew in cold water with plenty of sugar. Cover close and stew an hour or more. The addition of the sugar at first preserves the pieces whole. If they are preferred finely mashed, add sugar after they are done.
A short entry that assumes the cook knows how much water and sugar to use. The technique is sound and still worth following: sugar added at the start keeps the quarters intact, while sugar added at the end lets them collapse into a purée.
- Quantities to fill inFor about 2 lb of apples (six medium), use 1/2 to 3/4 cup water and 1/2 to 3/4 cup sugar depending on how tart the fruit is. This yields roughly 3 cups of sauce, enough for four to six as a side dish.
- Apples "that do not cut to pieces easily"This means firm holding varieties: Northern Spy, Braeburn, Granny Smith, Golden Delicious, Winesap. McIntosh and similar soft apples break down quickly and are the ones to choose for the mashed version.
- Why the sugar mattersSugar in the cooking liquid draws into the fruit and appears to slow the breakdown of pectin, so the quarters keep their shape. Left until the end, the apples cook in plain water and slump. This is the hinge of the recipe and the reason it is written the way it is.
- An hour is for whole quartersAn hour of covered, barely simmering cooking suits sugared quarters meant to stay intact. Unsugared apples for mashing need 20 to 30 minutes, and less for soft varieties.
- Heat and vesselA heavy saucepan over low heat, lid on, with an occasional check that the water has not cooked away. High heat will scorch the sugar syrup at the bottom before the apples are through.
- Seasoning the period leaves outNineteenth-century apple sauce was often served plain. Cinnamon, a strip of lemon peel, a grating of nutmeg or a spoon of cider all fit without changing the method.
- KeepingRefrigerate and use within a week. This is a fresh sauce, not a preserve; the recipe gives no processing instructions and should not be treated as a canning method.
Apple sauce earned its place in a Southern household book as much for economy as for flavor: apples kept in a cellar through winter. It was the standard accompaniment to pork and to roast goose or duck, the acid cutting rich fat, a pairing generally traced to medieval European cookery. The entry distinguishes between quartered sauce and mashed sauce — the firm version and the smooth one. Note too that no spices are called for.