[Sca-cooks] fruit varieties for cooking

[Johnna Holloway]

It's also the question of regional varieties that grew better in a certain
valley or hillside. There weren't national markets and transportation
to ship local fruits halfway around the world at that point. As regards 
apples,
there were also varieties grown just for cider. The same goes for
pears and perry. There's an entire book entitled Pomona's Harvest.
An Illustrated Chronicle of Antiquarian Fruit Literature by H. Frederic
Janson which Timber Press put out in 1996 that examines the literature
associated with the culture of various fruits. The ideas about grafting and
different fruit varieties were in great demand during the Middle Ages 
and Renaissance
and numerous books were written with regard to the best methods
and varieties for use.

Johnnae llyn Lewis


Phil Troy / G. Tacitus Adamantius wrote:

> That's probably it. My guess would be that with the advent of things 
> like the refrigerated truck or railroad car, more "eating" varieties 
> of fruits became more available around the country and around the 
> world, and that, while people would sometimes pick an apple off a tree 
> and eat it, a lot more of the fruit we ate was cooked, compared to 
> today. Starting (clutches at rough guess) in around the turn of the 
> [20th] century, or maybe slightly before, we probably saw not the 
> emergence of "cooking varieties" of fruits, but of an increased number 
> of "eating" varieties, which have become distinct from cooking 
> varieties. One problem, of course, is a certain blurring of 
> distinctions, with things like Granny Smith apples being reasonably 
> good for cooking and for eating raw, while simultaneously bumping off 
> the market roster varieties like Romes, Ida Reds, Winesaps and 
> Northern Spies.
>
> Adamantius
>