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The Mela Annurca
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Campania - At the daily markets now that it's autumn it seems that apples are simply everywhere. All kinds of them, big, bright, and juicy, pretty much alike, right? Wrong. Granted, some are red or yellow, sweeter or tarter, etc. Then . . . there is the annurca, the little one that looks like someone forgot in the back of the fridge.
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Actually, that's not too far from the truth . . not many people know about this little jewel of an apple from Campania. An ancient variety (first mention is by Pliny the Elder!), the mela annurca is small, unattractive and unpretentious, but of delectable sweetness and unbelievably fragrant. Harvested in September while still green, mele annurche are then laid out in fields that have been prepared with 'alleys' of of hay or sawdust. These rows of hay are then covered with black netting set on poles to retain the extra warmth from the sun.
Every 10 days the apples are turned by hand and after a couple of weeks the fields become a sea of yellow, green, gold, and pink, until eventually the apples turn a lovely ruby red on all sides. Thus treated the annurche apples will keep through the whole of winter. They are perfect for baking (see an annurca-only sampling below), jams and many extraordinary liqeurs. . . not bad for the ugly duckling of the apple world.
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--contributed by Barbara Goldfield (see bio), owner of "Savour The Sannio", www.savourthesannio.com, a travel consultancy for central and southern Italy.
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