Apples

According to some historians, it was the Romans who first started cultivating the wild apple of Europe into something resembling the sweet and juicy apple of today. Others claim its origin is from Southeastern Asia, while other experts say the apple originally came from England, where fossilized apple seeds, dating back to the Neolithic period, have been found.

The first colonists introduced apples to America. The most prominent of these being Johnny Appleseed, whose real name was John Chapman. Apparently he was so fond of apples that he traveled barefoot, scattering apple seeds from a sack he carried on his back. He wanted a country covered in apple trees, so the story goes. Unfortunately, this is not quite how it happened, but John Chapman did start apple nurseries from coast to coast.

There are thousands of apple varieties, which, broadly speaking, fall into three categories: a) dessert, b) cider and c) cooking.

Choose apples which have been grown for flavor, rather than high yields. These apples taste and smell like apples should, they will have a rougher skin. Avoid those mass produced, oversized red or green apples which have that greasy, plastic look. Most likely, they will be tasteless.