It’s my pick of the wild bunch

Tim Dover, chef patron of The Roost in Bridge of Earn, has been out foraging for crab apples, and has turned his hand to making a tasty tarte tatin

I really do not know why anyone would buy an apple from a supermarket between late August and October.

Once you’ve tuned into what grows around you, you’ll notice there are apple trees bearing fruit everywhere at the moment.

I am regularly receiving apples from various locals calling by with a bag at the restaurant.

And if you are into eating wild foods, you’ve probably been out foraging for crab apples.

The crab apple is a wild counterpart of the cultivated apple but much smaller and tarter in flavour. The fruit is sharper than cultivated varieties and is normally treated like a cooking apple and generally used to make a sauce, chutney, or jelly because crab apple is high in pectin.

Some crab apples turn red when they’re ripe, while others turn a yellowish orange. The easiest way to tell is to cut them open at the core. If the seedsd are e brown, the fruit is ripe r and ready for ppicking. And a littl le mythology for r you. It was sa aid that if you th hrow the pips in nto the fire while w saying th e name of your love, the love is true if the pips explode.

At the restaurant we like to feature our crab apples in tarte tatin. I cannot think of a better way to present this fruit to taste its truly unique flavour.

To make a tarte tatin for six, you’ll need six small or medium crab apples, cut in half; 150g sugar; 60g butter; 2 tbsp honey; 1x roll puff pastry, thawed.

Preheat the oven to 200C. Stem and halve your crab apples; if you like, cut out their cores.

In a heavy ovenproof or cast-iron skillet cook the sugar, butter and honey over medium-high heat for roughly five minutes until it turns smooth and golden.

Place enough apples to cover the bottom of the pan into the hot caramel and cook for another three minutes.

Remove from heat and turn the apples cut side up using tongs. Roll the pastry out until it’s a little larger in diameter than the skillet; cover the apples and tuck in the edge of the pastry. Cut a few slits in the top and bake for 20-25 minutes until golden.

Carefully invert the tarte tatin onto a plate while it’s still warm. Serve with whipped cream or ice cream.