The Apple

I had no idea of what to write, so I decided to pick an object to write about. The first thing that came to mind was apples (oddly enough). As in, the random-generator part of my brain chose from the millions of things I could have talked about, and somehow alighted on the subject of the Great Apple.

Apples are great. They actually are. In fact, this relatively humble and common fruit plays a big part of our lives. An apple has many purposes; let me list them.

They are the perfect size to slot into the empty space of our lunchboxes, being a rounded, yet oblong shape.
In Autumn, apple picking is a delightful occupation. I remember back in the good old days when Mum would take the four kids along to the local apple orchard - we would bring along stacks of plastic bags and fill them full of the crisp, juicy things. The trees would have lost almost all their leaves by this time, be piling up and caressing the thin tree trunks. There would be apples on the ground, too, that we would try to avoid: some slushy, some bird-pecked, some seemingly perfect, crimson against the brown leaves.
Taking that first bite into the reddest, bloomiest part of the huge apples was the quintessential part of Autumn-season.

When we got home, the back of the car would have big, knobbly bundles of apples - about thirty bags full, which we'd put in a storage unit we had in the yard, and distribute to our friends.
Oh the joy of cooking with apples.
Apples are so unassuming - they are not luxurious like grapes are, they don't have sophisticated, complex personalities like pomegranates, they aren't ethnically superior like dates and figs, and they aren't posh and grown-up like melons.
No. Apples speak of childhood and melting apple pies with spicy cinnamon and dripping cream, of freezing weather in Christchurch, blue skies, auburn leaves, sparkling apple cider, thick duvets and good books.

Apples really do have a lot going for them. The initial bite is the most important, as every experienced Apple-Lover knows. In that first crunch you realise for better or for worse, what you have gotten yourself into by picking that particular apple. It is the first vampirish bite that reveals the nature of the apple: the thickness of the skin, the tangyness, whether the cells of the apple are pushed firmly together, or if the apple is a bit mushy. The sweetness: whether the apple is redeemingly sweet, and whether or not the tangyness complements the sweetness.
These are important things to reckon with when selecting apples to buy: One ought to have a feel for which apples are suitable and which are unworthy.
Braeburns (as every good Appelite knows full well) are among the best of the lot in the apple world. The tangyness reigns supreme while the sweetness aids in rounding the flavour.

So, are you a fellow lover of apples? Did I convince you? Did this post bring back memories..?