Week 7

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Week 7 Friday 20th March 2009 Mystery Fruit
Answers
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Its apple week! Apples originated in the Middle
East more than 4000 years ago fruit and vines
have been grown in the UK since the Roman
occupation, with specially cultivated apple
varieties spreading across Europe to France,
arriving in England at around the time of the
Norman conquest in 1066. The demise of rural
areas and apple growing, commencing in the 13th
century with the Black Death, the War of the
Roses and repeated droughts, was reversed by
Henry VIII who instructed his fruiterer, Richard
Harris, to establish the first large scale
orchards at Teynham, Kent, scouring the known
world for the best varieties. For the next 300
years, most produce for the luxury market was
sold in London. Old English, recorded in 1204,
was the main dessert apple in England well into
the 18th century, being grown alongside its
culinary counterpart Costard, the salesman for
the crop being known as a costermonger. The
Victorian explorers found new varieties from all
over the world and brought them to Brogdale, in
Kent, so developing its orchards and
gardens. Brogdale houses the National Fruit
Collection - more than 3500 varieties - with over
30 acres of orchards, and the largest collection
of apple varieties in the world (more than 2300
dessert, culinary and cider). The UK apple
market is now worth over 320M but only 30-35
of the eating apples sold in the UK are
home-grown. Supermarkets sell 70 of all apples
in the UK. Many supermarkets sell about eight
varieties double the range they carried five
years ago. The UK is the only country that grows
apples especially for cooking. More than 140,000
tonnes (78M) of Bramley apples are sold
annually, with the fresh market (95) still
dominating supplies to the consumer. Can you
tell which variety of apple it is you have
tasted?
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Fruit 1 Braeburn Apple Braeburn is one of the
most important commercial apple varieties.  It
originated in New Zealand in the 1950s, and by
the last decades of the 20th century had been
planted in all the major warm apple-growing
regions of the world.  Braeburn accounts for 40
of the entire apple production of New Zealand.
The Braeburn apples you tasted today grew in
France.
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Fruit 2 Granny Smith Apple Granny Smith is one
of the most widely grown commercial apples. Known
for its green colour, sharp flavour and firm
texture. It requires a warm situation to be grown
successfully in the UK. Perhaps the most
instantly recognisable of all apple varieties and
one of the most widely known, Granny Smith is
also one of Australia's most famous exports. It
originated in Australia. The Granny Smith apples
you tried today grew in France.
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Fruit 3 Pink Lady Apple Pink Lady apples are
the highest quality apples in the orchard. No
other apple is raised with more love than a Pink
Lady because it grows on the tree for longer
than any other apple. This additional nurturing
means a Pink Lady apple develops unique traits
a vivid pink blush skin which makes them
especially delicious, a perfect sweet/tangy
balance and a hint of effervescence. Versatile
as well as good for you, Pink Lady apples have a
natural sweetness, so they are great for using in
recipes suitable for all the family. Pink Lady
apples are a premium apple so only the highest
quality can become a Pink Lady. This means that
every time you buy you know you are getting a
superior apple Almost half of the vitamin C
content of an apple lies just under its skin, so
it's good to eat the skin as well. The Pink Lady
apples you ate today grew in the U.S.A.
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Will you be able to guess the fruits next
week?The answers will be online from break time
on Friday.