Recently, while selecting apples from the Foppema’s Farm display, I saw “Sweet & Crunchy” on the sign for Chestnut crab apples. I gamely added a few to my bag and was pleasantly surprised by their lovely nutty flavor.
Most people who grow crab apples as a crop use them to make jelly, but originally they may have been planted when home cooks made their own pectin. Crab apples are high in pectin and can be boiled down, strained, and canned to make a supply of pectin for the next year’s jams and jellies of all types.
Cider and Scrumpy
Your favorite artisanal cider may have a dose of crab apple to achieve the right sweet/tart balance. In the British Isles, they have a cider made completely from crab apples and it’s called scrumpy.
My friend, Mick, who has enjoyed this drink at local pubs over there, says the best of it is made by “a guy down the road” and warned it may be very high in alcohol content. So far, I have not seen artisanal scrumpy in this country. If you know of one, please pass on the details.
Wikipedia has an origin for the word scrumpy. “The name is believed to derive from the obsolete West Country dialect term "scrimp," meaning a small or withered apple, which also gave rise to the verb "scrump," meaning to steal fruit.”
I also bought some of the more traditional, tart crab apples – a varietal called Siberian. These had a nice bit of crisp, green apple taste but were not sour or terribly tannic. I will even buy those again. And, I can because the farmers’ markets that bring these crops my way are still open and will be for some time.
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Words: Penny Cherubino
Photos: ©2013 Penny Cherubino
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