Apples Aplenty

 
Apples are probably my personal favorite fruit. While nowhere near as many as a century or two ago, there's still a halfway decent variety available for purchase, and more still that can elsewhere be found. There's actually an apple orchard down the road from where I grew up, but it's been so long that I hardly recall the many different sorts. 

Whether tartness, sweetness, body, crispness, all manner of varieties and characteristics still exist. In truth, there may still exist a perfect apple for every potential purpose... except for whatever happened to the Red Delicious. That poor thing is a mess- they bred for uniform coloration, and in doing so removed a gene that added stripes... but also the majority of the flavor. Poor thing.

While I am likely to adore most any apple dessert (give me a Granny Smith apple Tarte Tatin with some vanilla ice cream and I will make it vanish), they have vast utility in savory applications as well. While apple sees a lot of play in stuffing whole roasted fowl (apple and sage, anyone?), there are also many preparations that combine apple and game animals, most notably of the porcine variety. Applewood smoked bacon, pork chops with applesauce, porchetta, all manner of stews, braises, and a great many sauces, marinades, and glazes that rely on apple for sweetness, acidity, and texture. The majority of commercial Asian 'barbecue' sauces have apple (or pear), and my own North Carolina pulled pork recipe uses both apples and apple cider vinegar.

On the science side, the pectin in apples adds viscosity while also acting in some capacity as a protein binding agent, which is why I often add grated apple to meatball and meatloaf mixtures- flavor, moisture, and structure/stability all in one.

I actually braised some pork belly in apple cider earlier this morning! Added some ginger and chipotle, got tons of flavor from the simplest of preparations. A fine lunch.