Fruits of the earth

Today

A gorgeous picture of my great-nephew Isaac on Facebook today holding an upside-down spoon (why do all children do that?) and filling his face with apfelmus.

He was obviously enjoying the taste! I commented: "I remember apfelmus, I used to make that with Mamma!"

In My Day

Apfelmus was a seasonal treat when I was a child. First, apples had to be garnered. This happened in a number of ways. Sometimes we would go up to Grandma Richardson's house just up the road. Mamma had been a domestic servant to the Richardsons before the war and we kept up a friendly relationship until she died. We'd use huge apple-pickers - great jaws on sticks to pull down the branches and take the apples. There were wind-falls as well. In this way, Grandma R had her crop harvested and we got to take home lots of apples ourselves.

Sometimes the apples came from our garden; but that was before half of the land (the bit containing our raggedy orchard) was compulsorily purchased for housing). We used much the same method to collect our apples. In later years, Bramleys were simply bought from the greengrocer.

First, the apples had to be cored and cut up. Often the insides would reveal maggots or other nasties. I became adept at spotting those apples whose tell-tale little holes and marks gave this away. Cores and stems were discarded but we left the skins on.

Next they were cooked. Mamma used little or no water, allowing the apples to stew in their juices. Bramleys soften up pretty fast and when they were done, batches were put into a large, rather insanitary wooden framed sieve over a large mixing bowl. Using a wooden spoon, the pulp was forced through the mesh. We watched as the puree gradually transferred into the bowl; its colour anything from white through pink to green.

When the last fragment of apple had been pushed through, Mamma would add sugar to the right taste (tart but not too tart) and then add raisins. and left the whole thing until the raisins had plumped up and the mixture cooled.

This was then eaten in big bowlfuls, just as it was. A bowlful probably contained the pulp of about 6 apples and was very filling. I remember loving the contrast of the very sweet raisins with the tartness of the pulp. We always called it by its German name "apfelmus" to the extent that I thought that that was what everyone called it, not realising just what an unusual treat we were having in post-war Britain.

Lizzie used to have a spoon called a "Tommy Tippee" that didn't twist over when she picked it up, thus ensuring a  full helping of apfelmus every time. I wonder if they still make them?