Wind fall

Our apple tree is shedding its fruit; the apples are a good size and look lovely, but sadly they don’t seem to have much flavour or sweetness this year. The tree is laden, as is everyone’s, but at the moment I’m just gathering and using the windfalls. There are hundreds of different varieties of apple, and apples for different end purposes, eating, cooking, cider and brandy making, and every imaginable shape size and colour.

Our tree is a russet, it may be the most well-known, Egremont Russet, but it may be one of the other russet varieties:

• Acklam Russet
• Boston Russet
• Brownlees Russet
• Golden Russet
• Merton Russet
• Norfolk Royal Russet
• Rosemary Russet
• Roxbury Russet
• Rudford Russet

… and others which are russets but don’t have that name attached to them, such as

• Adam’s Pearmain
• Ashmead’s Kernel
• Blenheim Orange
• Braddick’s Nonpariel
• Claygate Pearmain
• Ribston Pippin
• Ross Nonpariel’

Russets are easily recognizable because of their rough greeny, browny, golden skin and crisp sweet flesh with a hint of tartness, and a wonderful perfumey taste…. sadly ours this year are just crisp and tart. I have actually cooked a lot of them, mixing them with quince for extra flavour. I bought a humidifier a couple of years ago, and dried apple rings, especially coated in honey and toasted sesame seeds before they are dried, are a really nice snack and keep for ages and ages.

They are a very old variety, known since before Shakespeare’s time because he actually refers to them, in Henry IV, part 2 – ‘there’s a dish of leathercoats for you’, leathercoat being the very apt name for them then. I shall always think of them as leathercoats now!