Old English Apple and Horseradish Sauce
A recipe fit for a monk….
Last week as some of you may recall I celebrated a year of blog writing and one of my earliest posts was about a visit to Tupholme Abbey in my home county of Lincolnshire. I decided to return to the scene of the influence behind my magnum opus on English abbey’s to see if, a year on I would photograph it any differently.
Two things remain a constant at Tupholme, the abbey (thankfully) and the sheep. If you want to photograph the abbey then be prepared to include sheep in your photographs or study image processing and edit them out. Do not wait for them to kindly step out of shot, they won’t and life’s too short.
Replaying a similar scene by Tom Cruise in Mission Impossible (I am taller but that’s about the only difference) I avoided the landmines that were sheep deposits with the grace and agility of a ninja ballerina until I reached my vantage point, an old apple tree. I think I must have missed this tree the first time around which is a shame because it really is a fine specimen.
There is something about an apple tree in the setting of somewhere old and historic in England, it just makes sense to be there. I have seen a few in my time from pristine orchards in stately homes to this solitary one in the middle of an ancient religeous site. An old apple tree heightens the sense of history and I often wonder how long they have stood there and what they have seen. This particular tree interests me, I don’t imagine it predates the abbey for a moment but why would anyone plant a solitary apple tree in basically, the middle of nowhere? It cannot be for the benefit of the residents, they’re far too busy munching grass sprouting from the ancient brickwork.
So old or olde English apples made me think about old English recipes and Roast Pork with Apple Sauce is about as English as you can get. Here’s an old recipe I have dusted off from a cookery book I bought in Kendal many years ago, there are no details as to author or publisher but it does sound about right.
Recipe for Apple Sauce with Horseradish
1lb Apples
2 tbsp Water
1 1/2 oz Butter
1/2 Lemon finely zested and juiced
Sugar to taste
1-2 tsp Freshly grated Horseradish
Cut apples into chunks and cook gently in the water, butter and lemon until soft. Mash them until smooth and/or pass through a sieve.
Season to taste with the sugar and horseradish.
Miles
great post and a great recipe for something I’ve never heard of but sounds delicious
Rod
August 17, 2008 @ 7:27 am
Miles,
There was a farm house on the site until fairly recent times, so it seems likely that they may have had fruit trees.
My own apple trees have been poor this year, I never know why this happens but then they are young trees and probably need a few more years to strengthen them up.
I’m off to the shops now to buy an orange before attempting the red cabbage recipe from yesterday.
Cid
August 17, 2008 @ 11:06 am
Rod,
Thanks, just need to get yourself an apple tree
Miles
August 17, 2008 @ 12:24 pm
Cid,
Thanks for telling me that, I also found out that Tupholme played host to concerts in the early 1970’s with Rod Stewart and the Beach Boys playing there in 1972!
Miles
August 17, 2008 @ 12:26 pm
Miles,
What an interesting twist to apple sauce - the use of horseradish. It would never have occured to me to combine the two but I shall try it out.
Cid, the lack of bees earlier on may have affected the crop on your apple trees.
Elsie
August 17, 2008 @ 5:27 pm
Elsie,
Yes you could be right although according to visiting experts, I should spray my trees before I spot the bugs which cause leaf curl. Next year to be on the safe side I shall make like a bee and buzz round with a paint brush to pollinate all the flowers.
I finished making the red cabbage recipe this evening and so my kitchen smells scrumptiously spicy. I shall do as you suggest and freeze some of the mixture to enjoy later on. Can’t wait to try it.
Cid
August 17, 2008 @ 6:58 pm
Can you please tell me where i can buy horse radish root
thanks
September 25, 2008 @ 11:41 pm
Chazza,
You mght find it in a better quality supermarket, failing that it’s very eaasy to grow if you have some spare space in your garden.
Welcome to the site and thanks for commenting.
Kind regards
Miles
September 26, 2008 @ 5:32 pm