Give it Forth: Adventures in Medieval Cookery

Apples belong to the Rosaceae family along with pears, quince, loquat, medlars and yes, roses. It is believed that there has been over 10,000 different apple cultivars that have been developed, many of which are now lost.It is generally believed that domesticated apples has their origins in Central Asia. Apples are documented as early as 6500 B.C. in Jericho and the Jordan Valley. Theophrastes records in 323 B.C the process of budding, grafting and general tree care of six different varieties of apples that were known at the time. Here I present five recipes featuring apples; A candy made of apples simmered in sugar syrup and allowed to dry, Apple Muse, and apple and rice milk sauce or pudding, Apple Moyle, a similar recipe to Apple Muse resulting in a sweet apple porridge, Applade Ryalle-three different versions of apple soup, creamy and delicious an unusal starter for any meal, and lastly A Potage of Roysons, apples and raisins are offset by spicy ginger in this simple porridge of ri