Apple sauce is used in almost everything today from Roasted Pork to Latkes and Apple Danish to Apple Pancakes but do you know how long they’ve been around? Apples have been around for a long time, carbonized remains of the fruit found in Switzerland, were dated  back to the Iron Age and by the Stone Age, it seems they were being sliced up and dried in the sun, again in Europe. In Egypt, Babylon and China 2,000 year old records showing that man could already graft and plant the tree have been found.  In the USA the first apples were the indigenous crab apples but apples spread throughout the

country very quickly and, in no small measure, thanks to Johnny Appleseed who, although we all consider him to be a legendary figure, actually existed. He was  an apple farmer and his real name was John Chapmen (1774-1845), born in Leominster, Massachusetts.  He was a dreamer and believed that America could produce enough apples to fee everyone so that nobody ever had to go hungry. He was an eccentric, clever businessman who travelled through all the newer territories to promote his product. He busily leased land and developed nurseries of apple trees wherever he went.  He collected apple seeds from all the cider mills, dried them himself and packed them into little bags that he gave to anyone he saw that was  moving out West. He did this for 40 years and apart from planning apple seeds, he began the nurseries to for the apple orchards but while he was at, he planted a host of other fruits and vegetables as well.  He wasn’t armed, never chopped down trees and never killed any animals – he only took his Bible on his travels and was respected and appreciated by both the Indian tribes and the pioneer farmers. He never married because he was convinced that God would be pleased with him.

Ingredients:

• 8 Granny Smith apples
• 125 ml cloudy apple juice
• 2 cinnamon sticks
• 3 whole cloves
• 1 teaspoon cardamom seeds
• 110 g sugar
• 1 lemon, zest and juice

Method

• Peel, core and slice the apples and discard peels and cores.
• Put the apples in a large pot and cover with the apple juice, the spices, the zest and the sugar and cook on medium heat until everything is very soft and there is no apple juice left.
• Please watch the apple as it does tend to burn.
• Remove the cinnamon and the whole cloves.
• Put everything in a blender and blend until very soft.
• Serve with the latkes.