Apple sauce is super versatile and can be served with anything from Roasted Pork to Latkes and is in important ingredient when making an Apple Danish or Apple Pancakes. Apples have been around for millennia and carbonized remains of the fruit found in Switzerland, were dated  back to the Iron Age; by the Stone Age, they were being sliced up and dried in the sun. Records dating back 2,000 years show that grafting and planting of apple trees was well known in Egypt, Babylon and China. In the USA the first apples were the indigenous crab apples and apples spread

throughout the country quickly; this was mainly due to the effort of  Johnny Appleseed who was not a legendary figure but actually existed. He was  an apple farmer and his real name was John Chapman and he was born in 1774 in Leominster, Massachusetts. He was a bit of a dreamer and clearly had a thing about apples. He was convinced that  America could produce enough apples to feed everyone in the country so that nobody would ever go hungry. I don’t think he took into account that humans couldn’t survive on apples or that everyone would be heartily sick of them; he was an eccentric but clever businessman who travelled through all the newer territories to promote his product. He leased land and developed apple tree nurseries wherever he went, collecting apple seeds from all the cider mills so he could dry and pack them into little bags that were given to anyone moving out West. It was his life’s mission and in his sole occupation for 40 years; apart from planting apple seeds, he developed nurseries for the orchards and while he was at it, he planted a host of other fruits and vegetables as well.  He wasn’t armed, never chopped down trees and never killed any animals, only taking his Bible on his travels. He 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 if he didn’t and he died at the age of 71..

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.