crabapples-msg – 7/9/17

Period crabapples and their uses.

NOTE: See also the files: fruits-msg, apples-msg, verjuice-msg, Period-Fruit-art, fruit-pies-msg, cider-art, cider-msg, wassail-msg, marmalades-msg.

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NOTICE -

This file is a collection of various messages having a common theme that I have collected from my reading of the various computer networks. Some messages date back to 1989, some may be as recent as yesterday.

This file is part of a collection of files called Stefan's Florilegium. These files are available on the Internet at: http://www.florilegium.org

I have done a limited amount of editing. Messages having to do with separate topics were sometimes split into different files and sometimes extraneous information was removed. For instance, the message IDs were removed to save space and remove clutter.

The comments made in these messages are not necessarily my viewpoints. I make no claims as to the accuracy of the information given by the individual authors.

Please respect the time and efforts of those who have written these messages. The copyright status of these messages is unclear at this time. If information is published from these messages, please give credit to the originator(s).

Thank you,
    Mark S. Harris                  AKA:  THLord Stefan li Rous
                                          Stefan at florilegium.org
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Date: Mon, 19 Sep 2005 10:01:58 -0400
From: "Jeff Gedney" <gedney1 at iconn.net>
Subject: RE: [Sca-cooks] Making verjuice
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>

> How do you make verjuice from crabapples?  I might actually
> have enough this year to harvest, and don't have any recipes
> (not even for crabapple jelly!).

Crabapples make a really good hard cider, but you make it
like a wine, and you have to give it enough time for the "secondary  
fermatation" where the (extremely tart)
malic acid is converted to (not so tart) lactic acid and CO2.
This is REALLY necessary for Crab Apples as they have a
much higher amount of malic acid to begin with.
I have a tree in my yard that has some very, very good
cidering crab apples, they are red fleshed and about
the size of a baby's fist.

Alas the tree was sadly neglected before I moved in, and
so it is infested with a number of parasites, and I don’t
want to use the fruit. I am trying to grow cultivars, but
so far I have not got the knack of grafting the tree onto
new pure root stock. I will try growing from seed this year.

Most brew stores sell malo-lactic cultures, and good
yeasts suitable for cider. Or you can get them on line.
Wye labs (Wyeast brand) sells one that is specific to an
english type cider, but I have found my best results come
from Montrachet or Champagne yeast, though they are
trickier to use since they use up sugar at a slightly
different rate.

You can usually rent a crusher at the local brew store
or pulse them through the food processor, and you can
make a cider press out of three food safe buckets, a
couple of two by fours, some foil and some cheese cloth.
  - drill a bunch of 1/4 holes in the bottom third of one
of the buckets, put one bucket (the receiver) on the
ground (this may get messy, so make sure it is a floor
you can mop or do it outside). Cover two pieces of two
by four, each 18 inches long, with foil, and place on
top of the receiver. put the perforated bucket on top
of the 2x4s centered over the receiver. line the
perforated bucket with cheese cloth and start spooning
in the mashed apples until it is half full, and fold
over the cheese cloth to cover. Place the third bucket
inside the perforated bucket and push down to squeeze
out the cider.

There are ways to improve the yield and cut down on the
mess, but this is the fastest and cheapest way to get
the squeezin's.

If you do want to improve the system, take a 2X2 sheet
of 3/4 inch plywood, with a 3 inch hole in the center,
and 2x4s around the edges as a rim, and line it all with
foil. Put this on the receiver bucket, and put the foil
wrapped 2x4's on either side of the hole. then proceed
as above. Foil wrapped bricks inside the presuming
buckets will make the pressing easier, and it's less
likely to knock the whole affair over, which physically
leaning onto it can do.
If you want really good stability, make legs or small
sawhorses for the plywood to rest on, instead of the
reciever bucket. I recommend this strongly.

Capt Elias
Dragonship Haven, East
(Stratford, CT, USA)
Apprentice in the House of Silverwing


Date: Mon, 19 Sep 2005 12:39:52 -0400
From: "Denise Wolff" <scadian at hotmail.com>
Subject: RE: [Sca-cooks] Verjuice
To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org

From: wildecelery at aol.com
> Mistress Andrea,
>  Can you share the directions for making verjuice from crabapples?
> -Ardenia

Sure! 

Andrea

Gather the crab apples and trim all the blackened areas. Then the apples are
crushed (I used a food processor) and Press (Cheesecloth) for their juice.
Place in clean container with cheesecloth over mouth of vessel. Allow to sit
at room temperature (I used the weekend). Then transfer to clean bottles and
cap (as if you were bottling wine or mead). Keep in fridge to maintain.


139.  To make Verjuice.

       Gather your Crabs as foon as the Ker-nels turn black, and lay
them a while in a heap to Sweat, then pick them from the Stalks,
blacks,  and rottenefs, then crufh and beat them all to pieces in a
Tub, then make a bag  of  courfe  Hair-cloath  as  big as your Prefs,
and fill it with the crufht Crabs,  then put it into  the Prefs and
Prefs it as long as any moifture will drop out, having a clean Veffel
underneath to re- ceive the Liquor ; then Tun it up in fweet
Hogfheads,  and to every Hogfhead put half a dozen handfuls of Damask
Rofe Leaves, then bring it up, and fpend it as you have Occafion.

The Accomplifh'd Lady's Delight in Preferving, Phyfick, Beautifying, and
Cookery. 1675


Date: Tue, 20 Sep 2005 05:46:34 -0400
From: "Phil Troy / G. Tacitus Adamantius"
	<adamantius.magister at verizon.net>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] crabapples
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>

On Sep 20, 2005, at 3:59 AM, David Friedman wrote:
>> I think you can find directions for making verjuice from
>> crabapples in this Florilegium file, or at least references to
>> period commentary on doing this.
>
> The source I'm familiar with is 17th century--May.

Also Markham's "The English Hus-Wife". As I recall, the Best edition
has illustrations of the equipment you'll need, including an
intriguing long-handled hammer which looks like something out of "The
Shining", used to beat the crabs into submission/pureedom.

Adamantius


Date: Tue, 28 Oct 2008 13:19:02 -0700 (PDT)
From: Katheline van Weye <kat_weye at yahoo.com>
Subject: [Sca-cooks] Crab-apples and Verjuice
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>

The discussion on historical apples reminded me of something...In 16th century English cooking, verjuice is made from crab-apples.

From Markham's The English Housewife...
-------------------------------------
31. To make verjuice
To make verjuice, you shall gather your crabs as soon as the kernels turn black, and, having laid them a while in a heap to sweat together, take them and pick them from stalks, blacks, and rottenness: then in long troughs with beetles for the purpose, crush and break them all to mash: then make a bag of coarse haircloth as square as the press, and fill it with the crushed crabs; then put it into the press, and press it while any moisture will drop forth, have a clean vessel underneath to receive the liquor: this done, tun it up into sweet hogsheads, and to every hogshead put a half a dozen handfuls of damask rose leaves, and then bung it up, and spend it as you shall have occasion.
-------------------------------------------

Note: The "beetles" mentioned in the recipe refer to clotting beetles or mallets.

Katheline


Date: Tue, 09 Dec 2014 16:23:25 -0500
From: Johnna Holloway <johnnae at mac.com>
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Whole Apples in Syrup?

I suspect that you may want to search under crab apples or possibly pippins as well as apples.
My recent article "Apple Time" appears here:
http://cynnabar.org/sites/default/files/Citadel2014-Fall.pdf

I have other recipes. The article is just a brief note of sorts. I will also take a look in the files and see what else I can find. 

Johnnae

On Dec 9, 2014, at 11:28 AM, Donna Green <donnaegreen at yahoo.com> wrote:
<<< Does anyone know of any period recipes for whole apples in syrup? I know there are period recipes for other varieties of fruit preserved whole in syrup or honey, but I was wondering about apples. I got a bunch of tiny little Lady apples (a late 16th c French variety) and wanted to preserve them. Part of the apeal of these particular fruit is the cute tiny size, so I do want to keep them whole. They are also tasty and sweet.
Juana Isabella
West >>>


Date: Wed, 21 Oct 2015 19:32:27 -0400
From: Lijsbet de Keukere <lijsbet.vandelfthout at gmail.com>
To: sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org
Subject: [Sca-cooks] On apples

Someone new to my barony lives on land that was once a cider orchard, and
many of the trees are still standing. The variety, they say, is Malus
sylvestris, which, if I'm looking in the right places, is a wild crab apple
originating in Northern Europe. The owner says this variety can be traced
back to the colonial era in America (the earliest mention I was able to
find was a 1799 botany book).

These apples are very firm (nearly rock hard), and very tart. Its skin is a
pale yellow, and it looks like it turns red in the spots most exposed to
the sun. One of the prime characteristics of these apple trees is its spiny
nature - there are large, sharp spines that stick out from the branches. I
cannot seem to find a resource that mentions the history of the spiny
version of this crab apple, unless of course, it is simply implied. It is
just unique enough that I wondered if it was its own variety which
warranted a closer look.

I don't want to get my hopes up, but I will say that the prospect of having
unfettered access to a cultivar of apple that is very close to SCA period
is exciting, and has me preparing my mason jars. But before I get too far
ahead of myself, is anyone here familiar with this variety of apple?

Vrouw Lijsbet de Keukere


Date: Thu, 22 Oct 2015 07:23:53 -0400
From: Johnna Holloway <johnnae at mac.com>
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] On apples

If as reported, it's  a Malus sylvestris, it appears to be a cider apple of long standing. 

http://www.treesandhedging.co.uk/crab-apple-malus-sylvestris/p430

"A pretty, rounded tree, attractive both in blossom and in fruit. A British native, it is one of the ancestors of all our cultivated apples and is often seen in hedgerows. It makes a pretty specimen tree for the garden and is a good pollinator for other apples. It is a useful addition to woodlands, where it will support a range of insects and birds."
"
Flower, seed and fruit
The saucer-shaped five petalled white flowers are tinged pink and open in May. The small round green fruits ripen in autumn to yellow, flushed red. They are very sour even when ripe.

Uses
Crab apples are too sour to eat raw, but can be made into jams or added to other fruits where their high pectin content ensures a good 'set'. The have also been added to cider and were an ingredient of the medieval drink Lamb?s Wool. The close-grained wood is prized for wood turning, and it is also valued as a sweet-scented fuel."

Crab apple jelly would be a possible use. 

http://www.greenfootsteps.com/crabapple-jelly-recipe.html#sthash.zKdgDqzh.dpbs

http://www.yankeemagazine.com/recipe/crab-apple-jelly

Other ideas

http://www.seriouseats.com/talk/2013/09/what-to-do-with-all-of-these-crabapples.html

Have fun

Johnnae


Date: Thu, 22 Oct 2015 11:31:17 +0000 (UTC)
From: Volker Bach <carlton_bach at yahoo.de>
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] On apples

If you manage to produce crabapple cider, that seems to make good vinegar (at least if we can trust Hieronymus Tragus).


Date: Thu, 22 Oct 2015 13:01:25 +0100
From: Drew Shiel <gothwalk at gmail.com>
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] On apples

On 22 October 2015 at 00:32, Lijsbet de Keukere <
lijsbet.vandelfthout at gmail.com> wrote:
<<< Someone new to my barony lives on land that was once a cider orchard, and
many of the trees are still standing. The variety, they say, is Malus
sylvestris, which, if I'm looking in the right places, is a wild crab apple
originating in Northern Europe. [...] One of the prime characteristics of
these apple trees is its spiny
nature - there are large, sharp spines that stick out from the branches. I
cannot seem to find a resource that mentions the history of the spiny
version of this crab apple, unless of course, it is simply implied. It is
just unique enough that I wondered if it was its own variety which
warranted a closer look. >>>

 Malus sylvestris does indeed have thorns, often lots of thorns[1]. Left
to its own devices, it also develops lots of trunks, in such density that
the central ones often die off for lack of light. It's rare enough these
days; it's not cultivated, and most of the wild specimens have been cut
down or otherwise disposed of. I knew of two such trees near my homeplace
in Co. Wexford, Ireland, when I was growing up, and both are now gone - one
lost to land clearance for a house, the other not surviving repeated
hedge-cuttings.

At this stage, if I found such a tree, I'd see about taking cuttings with
an eye to grafting them - not that I've done so before, but my grandfather
used to graft trees, so I've seen it done. Apple trees very rarely breed
true; the pips in the apple are almost by definition crossbreeds, and
that's going to be all the more true in an orchard.

 But having found a European crab apple in America seems like something of
a prize in and of itself, so congratulations!

 Le meas,
 Aodh

 [1] On the old trees I knew of, these were not 'minor inconvenience'
thorns as on brambles, nor 'painful but dealable with' thorns as on roses.
These were great big two-to-four inch spikes, like blackthorn but even
bigger, that were a danger to life and limb. I still have a sizable scar on
my temple, just at the hairline, from where one of them gouged me.

<the end>


Edited by Mark S. Harris	crabapples-msg	Page  of 4