Apple the way president Barack Obama likes it

US first lady Michelle Obama loves making the apple cobbler (green apple slices, lemon juice and cinnamon) topped with a thick flaky crust, the way president Barack Obama likes it. Singer and guitarist Michelle Branch loves her apple pie so much that she expressed her desire to tattoo the crust recipe on her arm.

More than just a way to keep the doctor away, apple is a fruit that can be plucked and polished straight off a tree, baked into a pie, compressed into a glass of rich juice or even tossed as a salad.

“Its aroma and rich nutrient content make it distinct from most fruits. It is also one of the oldest fruits known to mankind,” says executive chef Ananda Solomon of the Taj President.

Apple is also the fruit of the month January in India. Easy availability and variety makes it superb. However, Solomon feels, Indians limit their tryst with apples to consuming it raw or in its juice form or at best extending its use to making jam or apple pie. While in states like Himachal Pradesh and Jammu & Kashmir apple goes into a number of local preparations, city folks are yet to get creative with it.

There is so much Indians can do with apples, says Solomon, going on to list names like apple halwa, apple jalebis, apple cheesecake, apple candy, apple sauce, relish, apple sorbet, apple carrot walnut cake, apple tart and apple flambe. He says in this wintry cool weather, apple juice, apple pie with white wine and apple walnut cake are a delight to the palate.

“It is a fruit with negative calories ie the amount of calories required to burn it is far less than the amount of calories it produces. Hence it is preferred by many who want to lose weight. Also, its being high in iron content and soluble fibre makes it an extremely nutritious and wholesome fruit,” says executive chef Arindam Bahel of Rodas — An Ecotel Hotel.

He suggests trying out dishes like baked apple crumble, cream cheese and baked apple stable (cheese-flavoured cream with baked apples and cinnamon on a pie crust), sev ka murgh (chicken cooked in apple puree) along with known ones like the Waldorf salad (apple, celery, walnut and cream dressing) for a tempting spread.

He says that the Kashmiri guests who stay at the hotel love the khomani sev nazakat, a salad made with dried apricots, dried apple and rose petals, served with a saffron cream dressing). At a well-known industrialist’s party held recently at the hotel, Bahel served this salad as a dessert after sweetening it, and it was a big hit.

Chefs are unanimous in their opinion that the green-skinned Granny Smith apple variety, with its sweet, tart flesh, is excellent for baking as it retains its structure, while the juicy red Washington Apple is good for salads and preserves. The soft, yellow New Zealand variety, they say, is good for cooking other dishes. You can also use apples to make apple cider (fermented non alcoholic drink), vinegar, apple wine, apple butter and the toffee apple (apple coated in hot  toffee).

Chef Moshe Shek of Moshe’s restaurant too has dishes like the apple crumble pie, apple and cinnamon muffin, apple and cinnamon jam and fresh apple smoothies served round the year.

A well-travelled restaurateur, Moshe has had apples in all its avatars: Bircher muesli, a Swiss breakfast dish, made of rolled oats, grated apples, raisins and cream; foie gras with buttered apple at a restaurant in London, chunky wholesize apple pie in the US and the famous apple strudel in Austria. Not to forget the apple raita (apple and curd mix) he has had in Himachal Pradesh and the sev kheer (apple pudding) he has tried at a few Indian weddings.

Food writer Parvana Boga Noorani mentions delectable recipes like Granny Smith apples with cheese, chicken salad with apples (paired for its crunchiness), chicken with Calvados (chicken with apple brandy), spiced apple with pork chips and apple sauce (since apple cuts the richness of the pork) and apple jam (since apples don’t require additional sugar due to their high natural sugar content) as great picks among the apple dishes she’s prepared or eaten.