Like many of the most abundant foods, the apple has depths obscured by its familiarity. In 1965, Elspeth Huxley wrote: “You cannot sell a blemished apple in the supermarket, but you can sell a tasteless one as long as it is shiny, smooth, even, uniform and bright.” The modern food industry demands uniformity, but thousands of varieties of apple still exist beyond the cosmetically perfect supermarket shelves. Our climate can’t compete to produce the large, sweet apples that dominate the global market, but our brisk winters and long summers produce apples of subtle complexity. The apples of East Anglia – and elsewhere – deserve rediscovery, recognition and preservation.
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