Apples From Land of Borat For Make Glorious Dessert

There’s debate about exactly which forbidden fruit Eve took from the Garden of Eden, but in truth only one fruit could be so tempting: the apple.

Luckily for Columbia, fall is apple season and the Morningside Heights Greenmarket is right around the corner—a perfect opportunity to get a taste of the rare delight of the freshly-picked apple. Tart, sweet, crunchy, and clean, the apple has stood the test of time, holding its place as one of the world’s most popular foods while incurring cultural and symbolic significance throughout history.

In Greek mythology, Hera and Athena so desired Eris’s golden apple that Paris ultimately sparked the Trojan War by giving it to Aphrodite. Snow White is lured into her stepmother’s trap by a poisoned apple; Johnny Appleseed became a hero by planting apple trees, and legend has it that Newton’s theory of gravity was inspired by a ripe apple’s fall to the ground. You can be “the apple of someone’s eye” or “as American as apple pie.” Apple aficionados in Franklin, PA even hold a three-day celebration every year in October called Applefest. So why all the hullabaloo?

It turns out our ancestors loved apples as much as we do; the apple, or Malus domestica, was one of the earliest-cultivated fruits and can be traced back thousands of years to its predecessor Malus sieversii in Kazakhstan. Today, apples are cultivated everywhere from the United States to Iran and China. Rich in vitamin C and other antioxidants, the apple is an extremely versatile ingredient, living a dual life as both a quick, wholesome snack and a gourmet selection.

There are more than 7,000 different varieties of apples, but unfortunately only the most commercially-successful cultivars—Red Delicious and Gala, for example—are offered by the average grocery store.

“Some kinds of apples are harder for big companies to mass-produce and store for long periods of time,” explains one of the Stannard Farm vendors at the Morningside Heights Greenmarket, who chose to be referred to as “Gabe.” Unlike at large grocery chain stores, most Greenmarket grocers grow their apples in small family farms and, because of this, provide a greater variety of fresh produce. Currently, Stannard Farm alone offers over twenty different kinds of apples, including the classics as well as more unique varieties like the Spartan, the Jonagold (a cross between the Jonathan and Golden Delicious varieties), and the Mutsu.

If you’ve never heard of these apples, now is the perfect time to try them. “When you buy apples during the spring or summer, they’re usually last year’s crop, so they’re already eight or nine months old,” warns Gabe. “The stuff we have in now is freshly-harvested and in season.”

But with so many to choose from, which apple is a true must-try? “Stannard Farm’s most popular apple of the season by far is the Honeycrisp,” says Gabe. The Honeycrisp is a firm, crunchy apple with just the right balance of sweet and tart. Gabe also recommends the Macoun variety, a tart and juicy apple with snow-colored flesh, and the Cortland, a sweet, dessert apple.

And, most importantly, apple season also brings apple pie season, apple crisp season, applesauce season, and every-apple-creation season—so go a little crazy. Try a new kind of apple every day. Take a look at the recipe below, and maybe even experiment with your own apple masterpieces. After all, apple season only comes once a year.

Apple Crisp Recipe

INGREDIENTS:

• 3 pounds tart apples
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1/3 cup rolled oats
• 4 tablespoons cold butter (1/2 stick)
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans

1. Peel, core, and chop apples; toss in a bowl with lemon juice. In a separate bowl, combine brown sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg; add to apples and toss to combine.

2. In another bowl, combine flour, sugar, and oats. Cut butter into 8 small pieces, and crush butter into flour with a pastry blender or two forks until mixture is crumbly. Stir in chopped nuts.

3. Butter a 9-inch square baking dish. Spread apple mixture in bottom of baking dish then sprinkle with flour mixture. Bake at 375° for 30 to 45 minutes or until the apples are tender and the topping is lightly-browned.

4. Serve warm or at room-temperature with vanilla ice cream or a dash of heavy cream.