A Window on Fall
FALL IN LOVE WITH APPLES’ SAVORY SIDE
As evenings turn cooler, and locally grown apples begin to show at local markets, many folks conjure up images of warm apple pie à la mode, cinnamon-laden apple turnovers, buttery apple cake, caramel-y tarte tatin or candy-sweet apple crumbles and cobblers. I, on the other hand, fantasize about roasted apple soups, tart and crunchy apple salads, and apple-braised meats—I’m in love with apples’ savory side.
Apples are one of the most versatile fruits for use in savory cooking. Their vibrant flavors are potent enough to hold their own in hearty dishes, tart enough to impart a freshness that keeps feasting feeling clean. Adding apples to salads, soups and vegetable and meat dishes can make comfort foods feel lighter and healthier, while sacrificing none of nurturing qualities we crave from food as the colder and shorter days creep closer.
In our area, we are fortunate to have a good number of interesting heirloom apple varieties still being cultivated. Despite the major decline in apple production from historical highs earlier this century, mostly replaced by wine grapes, there are still a few small apple farms offering U-pick, as well as those that sell at farmers’ markets, and to local grocers. Even nosing through your neighbor’s backyard can be rewarding, yielding rare varieties lingering from the region’s apple-producing heyday.
The much-celebrated local hero, the Gravenstein, is my personal favorite for savory dishes, although its incredibly short season makes it easy to miss. One of the best eating and cooking apples, the Gravenstein does not travel well, so many apple growers have replaced their Gravenstein trees with more hardy apple varieties, or the aforementioned wine grapes.
Other local favorites include Cinnamon Spice apples that are found all over where I live in Bolinas. These crisp, juicy apples have an intense cinnamon essence that compliments the savory spices in my recipe for Curried Apple and Chicken Salad. The intensely nutty flavor of the Ashmead’s Kernel apple found in Tomales shines in my Roasted Squash and Apple Soup. The Sebastopol star Pink Pearl, noted for its beautiful pink-hued peel and scarlet swirls in its flesh, retains its distinctive coloration when shaved raw into an Apple and Kohlrabi Salad.
I encourage you to explore our local apple harvest this season, whether you pick your own or seek out unusual varietals in our local markets. I am confident that once you taste these distinctive, highly flavorful apples, you’ll never be satisfied with the ubiquitous, but rather bland, apple varieties like Red Delicious that are mostly imported into our area. Not to mention that by supporting local apple growers, you’ll be preserving the bucolic landscape that makes our area so special.
