APPLES OF YESTERYEAR
which still maintains an office,” said Nel. “We owe a debt of gratitude to people like him, who left us meticulous notes.”
He also mentioned the horticultural notes of local church minister François Valentijn which date back to the 1720s.
Van Riebeeck’s diary entry of April 17, 1662 reads: Heavy drizzle in the morning and strong north-westerly wind blowing in from the sea. Today the first two ripe Dutch apples were picked in the Company’s nursery garden. They came from a tree no more than 1.5 metres. This type of apple is known as a Wijnappel.”
And from that day the R6 billion fruit industry we have today has grown.
Once the new pear tree was safely ensconced in its new home, our band of apple enthusiasts was sent forth into the orchard to pick the fruit which caught our fancy. Some went for size or colour – but I chose mine for its name Tjeek.
Apart from having the chance to taste what the ancestors of the apples we find at our local grocery store may have tasted, we were also treated to a large slice (or two) of apple pie.
Dr Annalien Dalton, programme manager for Radio Helderberg, and an apple grower herself, took to the kitchen with a collection of apples from the orchard.
“I love food and I love cooking and preserving and product development,” she said, so it made sense that she was chosen to work magic with the apples. While she was at pains to emphasise that these apples don’t quite behave the same way as modern apples do when baking, there wasn’t a single unhappy pie eater at the table. In fact, the crisp texture of the apple slices was a highlight. Whereas most of the fruit in pies these days is often cooked to mush, the heritage apples maintained their texture and shape.
Dalton walked our group through the evolution of apple pies, from back when the pastry was just a shell for cooking and was not supposed to be eaten, to what we find in bakeries now. She explained how the pie crust we know today has developed from what was originally called a coffyn, made of flour and water, which was discarded when the filling was ready to eat.
She regaled us with tales of apple tarts from around the world, whether served warm or cold, or with cream and even cheddar cheese. Her talk of double crust pies and tarte tatin had me eager to whip up a variety of pies in my own kitchen this winter.
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