Apple

The fruit of a tree of the genus Malus, native to Europe and West Asia and introduced to North America in the 17th century. There is evidence that the apple was already under cultivation in the Neolithic times. The apple has long had a prominent place in Western culture as a symbol of temptation and instigation: the unnamed fruit in Genesis has traditionally been considered an apple; Paris gave Aphrodite a golden apple and thereby caused the Trojan War. Lemons, in medieval times, were "Persian apples;" dates were "finger apples;" pomegranates, "apples of Carthage." In other legends, William Tell shot an apple off his son's head; Snow White's stepmother used an apple to poison her; and Isaac Newton's legendary inspiration was a falling apple. In white magic and esoteric cults, the apple is the feminine symbol linked with Venus. If you cut an apple vertically into two exact halves, you can see some likeness to female genitalia. If you cut it in half horizontally, you can, like the Pythagoreans, see it as a perfect five-pointed star, the pentagram, a key to occult sciences, in that it reveals the secret of the knowledge of good and evil. The fact that the Latin word for apple is malum, a homonym for "evil", may be a pure coincidence.

The first apples were probably small and sour, like our crab apples. Pomologists, or apple experts, believe that apples originated somewhere between the Caspian and Black seas in Southwest Asia. It's hard to pin down the time and place accurately because, by the Stone Age, apples had spread over much of Europe. Ancient Roman texts on agriculture mention 22 varieties (there were undoubtedly more) and gave instructions on grafting that are still applicable today. In the 17th century, 56 different kinds of apples were part of the menu for a banquet given by the Grand Duke Cosmo III of Tuscany. Of the more than 5,000 varieties that have existed, most were developed in the 18th and 19th centuries.

Early North Americans, most famously Johnny Appleseed, developed many different types of apples. European colonists brought native varieties to North America; the English to Virginia and New England; the Dutch to New York; and the French to Canada. Documents dated October 10, 1639, chronicle the first U.S. harvest of apples plucked from trees planted in Boston. The record mentions "ten fair pippins." Today, pippin refers to many varieties of apple, most of which are used for cooking, although some can be eaten either cooked or raw, such as the Newton-Pippin.

The first commercial nursery was established on Long Island about 1730. By 1823, its catalog included four varieties that are still popular: Winesap, Yellow Newton, Rhode Island Greening and Baldwin. So many varieties of apple exist because of a botanical idiosyncrasy: apple seeds from one tree do not necessarily reproduce exactly the same way. If you plant the seeds from an apple, you will end up with several apple trees that do not bear a resemblance to one another. There are dozens of different varieties on the market today, the most common of which are described below.

The grading of apples is based on many factors. The Fancy and Extra Fancy grades are judged mainly on surface color and appearance, which do not necessarily reflect the quality of the fruit inside. So, an apple with less color may taste just as good as one with more.

---