The Apple: A Delicious History

De: Sally Coulthard

Narrado por: Deborah Balm

Bloomsbury presents The Apple: A Delicious History by Sally Coulthard, read by Deborah Balm.

Sin, cider and apple crumble… the 10,000-year story of the world’s most tempting fruit.

The Apple: A Delicious History takes the reader on an extraordinary journey, from the apple’s prehistoric beginnings in the Tian Shan mountains of Kazakhstan to the explosion of commercial apple-growing in twenty-first-century China. Zigzagging across the centuries and straddling the globe, Sally Coulthard explores how the apple travelled along the Silk Road from Central Asia to Europe, appearing as an erotically charged symbol in Greek myth and poetry and even featuring in the shopping list of a senior Roman officer stationed on Hadrian’s Wall. She samples the cider that flowed from the emperor. Charlemagne’s orchards in the early Middle Ages, and relishes the crispness of the yellow sweeting, the first new apple variety to be cultivated in seventeenth-century America. And she discovers why, despite the existence of more than 7500 varieties of apple – from the ubiquitous Granny Smith to the purple-skinned Black Diamond of Tibet – only a handful of cultivars are available in modern supermarkets.

Amplified by mouth-wateringly appley recipes and the stories behind them, The Apple: A Delicious History embraces not only culinary, horticultural, social and commercial history but also age-old traditions in mythology, folklore and religion. It is the perfect gift book for gardeners and nature lovers – and for anyone who enjoys a drop of cider or a slice of apple pie.©2024 Sally Coulthard (P)2024 Bloomsbury Publishing PLC

Reseñas de la Crítica

From the mouth-puckering Bramley to the scrumptiously tart Cox – Sally takes us through a crisp, delicious history.

An enlightening and delicious journey from ancient myth to modern agribusiness through the rich history of the humble apple.

The real voice of the proper countryside.

Few ingredients have the versatility, history and sheer tastiness of this humble fruit.

Sally Coulthard is cheerful and informative company on every leaf of this charming book.

A celebration of the apple’s extraordinary journey

A real treat, and an easy read for any history lover

Fascinating

Although the narration was a little dry, the history was quite interesting. I will also have to go back and listen to the recipes.

A fun exploration of apples

The is a great little trip through the history and experience of a wonderful fruit. There is a lot going out with the biology of the plant, the history of its spread, and the variety of the applications. Wide ranging discussion of all the topics - including how social and cultural influences change the fruit and how it is grown.

So much to learn and love about apples!

I really enjoyed learning so much about apples and their interconnections to humankind. A wonderful mix of interesting history, comical anecdotes and commentary.