February 7, 2024 • 28 mins
This sweet, rich spread is made by cooking down apples until they’re smooth as butter. Anney and Lauren dip into the dairy-free science and history of apple butter.
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Speaker 1 (00:08):
Hello, and welcome to Savior Production. iHeartRadio. I'm Annie Reas.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
And I'm Moarned Vocal Bomb, and today we have an
episode for you about apple butter.
Speaker 1 (00:17):
Yes, was there a particular reason this was on your mind? Lord?
Speaker 2 (00:21):
Ah? Okay, so what had happened? Was I this? This
episode was supposed to come out on the second of
February originally in the timeline, and that's Groundhog Day. And
I was like, I don't know, are there any traditional
groundhog Day foods? And after going on a short but
(00:45):
not very fruitful no pun intended a rabbit hole about
the movie Groundhog Day, I started looking into Pennsylvania Dutch
foods and I was like, apple butter. That sounds so nice.
Speaker 1 (01:00):
Yeah, and it is nice.
Speaker 2 (01:02):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (01:02):
I have a friend that gives me some. Oh yeah, yeah,
it's pretty nice. I actually haven't gotten any in a while,
but for a while it was a standard like gift
once per year. Yeah, yeah, I should contact her about that.
I don't think I had apple butter INUNTI pretty late
(01:23):
in life, really, yeah, I just missed out on all
of those jams and things.
Speaker 2 (01:31):
Your family just didn't didn't have any in the house.
Speaker 1 (01:35):
No, No, definitely not, but I did. I grew up
near a place in North Georgia called l J, and
l J has a lot of orchards and name like
apple cider, donuts, apple fried pies, like pretty much anything
you could imagine with apples, And they have apple butter
and I used to get some from there when we
(01:56):
would go. The thing is, I never went through enough
to like, you know, use, like to have one coming
in per year. It's true, I didn't. I didn't really
have need for it, but I do. I do enjoy it.
Speaker 2 (02:11):
Yeah, yeah. I similarly like I don't consume a lot
of preserves, It's right. Yeah, yeah, In general, I just
don't eat a whole lot of added sugar and things.
But but now that I'm thinking about it, I'm kind
of like, why don't Why don't I put some on
every cheese plate that I make? Why, yes, do I
(02:32):
not put some on my grilled cheese sandwiches? Why why
am I not using this, you know, as like part
of a glaze on like roast vegetables or something like that.
That would be delicious, Yes.
Speaker 1 (02:48):
It would be. And there are a lot more uses
for apple butter than I had previously considered, And I'm sure. Yes, yes,
you can see our apple episode. Yes, it feels like
so long time ago.
Speaker 2 (03:07):
It was so a long time ago.
Speaker 1 (03:09):
Yeah, Lauren and I are We've had some interesting mornings.
A little fla flazzard flstered, Yes.
Speaker 2 (03:19):
Exactly like that.
Speaker 1 (03:22):
We did do an episode on apple pie and cider cider.
I would say, sure, yes, But I guess that brings
us to our question.
Speaker 2 (03:30):
I guess it does.
Speaker 1 (03:33):
Oh, here we go, apple butter. What is it?
Speaker 2 (03:41):
Well, apple butter is a type of condiment made from
apples and warm spices, cooked down with a bit of
liquid into a mash until it eventually becomes like a thick,
spreadable brown paste, as spreadable like soft butter. No butter
was harmed the making of this condiment. Different recipes call
(04:02):
for different methods and seasonings. It might be a little
bit more smooth or a little bit more schunky. You
might have apple cider or even apple cider vinegar in
there for a little bit of tartness, a flavorful sweetener
of some kind like a maple syrup or brown sugar,
spices like cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger cloves. Over the low and
slow cooking process, it gets just impressively creamy tasting for
(04:25):
something that again does not contain dairy and develops these
lovely like toasty, caramelized kind of flavors. And yeah, it
can be used like any jam or jelly, as a
sweet spread on toast or sandwiches, as a filling in
sweet baked goods flavoring, and sauces or glazes for savory
dishes like roasts doll upon a cheese plate. Yeah, it's
(04:46):
like a it's like a Pokemon evolution of apple sauce.
It's like apple marmalade, like like a like a pie
and a jar, like like autumn in a jar, smooth
wind and cracklingly and the bright sun filtering through the
red gold canopy. Yeah. Yeah, just nice, just nice, it
(05:12):
really is. But yeah, so there are a lot of
possible iterations of apple butter that come down to tradition
and personal preference and what you have on hand. Because
this is definitely like a way to use up too
many apples and to preserve that flavor and maybe a
tiny bit of nutrition mostly flavor, perhaps like you've mostly
(05:34):
broken down the nutritive parts of the apple when you
were making apple butter at any rate, Yeah, but yeah,
you can use sweet apples and very little additional sweetener,
just just a little bit for flair, you know, or
tart apples with quite a bit of sugar to help
balance them out, or a combination things like brown sugar, molasses,
(05:54):
or maple syrup add add nice hints of extra flavor
to the apples. You often want apples that really do
turn to mush when they're heated, the opposite of the
kind that you turn to when you want them to
retain their form in a pie, you know, because you
want the final product to be varyingly smooth. You're usually
going to peel and core your apples and then quarter
(06:17):
them or give them a rough chop to help increase
surface area for quicker cooking. Old recipes often say pair
in core instead of peel in core, means the same thing.
Sum recipes do call for leaving in the skin and
maybe the cores too, for extra flavor and like straining
them out later. Those won't really help with pectin because
(06:38):
there's so much more pectin in the flesh of an
apple than there is in the skin. Pectin being a
type of fiber that's found in the cell walls of plants.
Like apples that can help foods gel up, And that's
part of what's happening here. The pectin already present in
apples means that you don't need to add more the
way that you might when you're making some other jam
(07:00):
and jellies. Using apple cider really does help deepen the flavor.
By apple cider, I mean unfiltered, unsweetened apple juice that
has not been allowed to ferment. A lot of old
recipes call for starting with apple cider like a bunch
of applesider, reducing it by half, and then adding your
apples in to start simmering. Some recipes call for vinegar
(07:22):
or apple cider vinegar to brighten the flavor of the
final product. And yeah, you're looking to cook this low
and slow, stirring more and more frequently. As the apples
break down into mash to prevent them from sticking and burning,
you really want to get in there and scrape the
sides in the bottom. If your apples don't break down
by themselves, you might want to mash them. To physically
(07:43):
mash them yourself in some way. You generally add your
spices ground. During this mash stage. You're often cooking the
apple mash for a long time, and even though you
are going low and slow, like you don't want to
cook off your flavors. The aforementioned cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger clothes
are common, but you can use whatever you like, allspice, mace, cardamom,
(08:04):
black pepper, lemon, zest, summers peas call for fermented apple
cider or even like an apple brandy or something like
rum or bourbon that sounds really nice m h. And
it's done when it's very thick, like so thick that
a scoop and a spoon will totally maintain its shape,
(08:25):
or if no liquid separates out from the main lump
in the spoon. Yeah, it'll be a spreadable sort of
preserve ruby brown in color from caramelization. It looks opaq
in a jar, but will be translucent when you spread it,
like like jelly or stained glass. Yep. It can be
stored that way in the fridge or the freezer, or
(08:47):
you can can it and it'll keep unopened on a
shelf for you know, pretty much. Ever, it can also
be made things like pears or quints or pumpkin, sometimes
mixed together with apples. I can't tell you what to
do important note here. Anything acidic like this you should
use a non reactive pan to cook with. There are
a lot of old accounts of using copper kettles for
(09:09):
apple butter, and that sounds real pretty. But when you
cook acidic things in unlined reactive pots, it can leach
some of whatever metal the pot is made of into
your food, which is not ideal health wise. Stainless steel
is a good choice, or you know, check to make
sure that your cookwar is lined on the inside. A
lot of copper cooking vessels are lined these days for
(09:30):
exactly this reason. You can also do it in the
oven in any kind of bakewear, and there are modern
recipes for using slow cookers and or pressure cookers, which
I'm fascinated about. I have not played with an instant pot,
but this sounds like a great application for it. Yes,
and then right then you have apple butter and you
(09:50):
can use it as you would any fruit spread often
served as a topping for bread, sometimes along with dairy
butter as well, or as an accompaniment or a glaze
ingredient for roasts as a filling, and cookies as spread
and sandwiches. And furthermore, if you were in Pennsylvania Dutch Country.
You might see signs on restaurants advertising seven sweets and
(10:13):
seven sours, and this is a concept of balancing sweet
and sour flavors with different dishes and condiments throughout a meal.
And apple butter is generally a component of that. Ooh
listeners right in Pence, the Greater Pennsylvania area being one
of the places where this condiment has really taken form.
Speaker 1 (10:38):
Yes, wow, what about the nutrition, it's.
Speaker 2 (10:42):
Treat treats are nice.
Speaker 1 (10:46):
Yes, sometimes you need them, you do. Sometimes you've had
a day and they do.
Speaker 2 (10:54):
I feel like, in general, you're not really consuming enough
apple butter to be like a little like oh man
like yeah.
Speaker 1 (11:01):
I did read some funny accounts of people eating a
lot of apple buttery, and one of my one of
my favorite was at the end of the article, he
was like, I don't even really like it. It's just tradition. Also, go,
I know what you're talking about, buddy, I know what
you're talking about. Yeah, Well, we do have some numbers
(11:26):
for you. Most of them are festival based.
Speaker 2 (11:30):
They are they are.
Speaker 1 (11:32):
Yeah. There are several apple butter festivals.
Speaker 2 (11:37):
Any number, any number of them. Just three that we
pulled numbers for okay. There's one in Grand Rapids, Ohio
called Apple Butterfest. It's been running since nineteen seventy seven.
Around forty thousand people attend every year these days, and
there are historical reenactments, a classic car show, apparently a
(11:57):
lot of broughtworst sounds cool, it's cool. I'm into that. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (12:02):
Uh.
Speaker 2 (12:02):
Groveport, Ohio holds an Apple Buttered Day every October. Last
year was the fiftieth anniversary. There's a spelling bee, a
pie eating contest, cane pole fishing derby, and of course
a lot of apple butter.
Speaker 1 (12:16):
Cane pole fishing, m.
Speaker 2 (12:21):
Yeppers. That's what I read cool. And then Berkeley Springs,
West Virginia, has one, also in October that features a
rubber duck race, a beard and mustache contest, a baking contest,
a quilt raffle, and a hog calling contest, which no
hogs are expected to attend. So you're just calling for you,
(12:44):
You're you're collin hogs, You're yeah, Okay, okay. I think
it's a I think it's a creative and and and
partially musical endeavor. I believe, I'm not I'm not totally sure.
I didn't I did research deeply into the hogcom contest,
but it sounded really cool, so I wanted to I
(13:06):
wanted to report upon it briefly. Yes, I am not
being sarcastic. I know that my sarcasm voice sounds really
close to my normal voice. I am being one hundred
percent sincere. This sounds amazing.
Speaker 1 (13:20):
It does. And once again, listeners, if you have been
to any of these oh my goodness, I have answers
to our questions about these activities. I would like to yes, yes, yes, yes,
you'll be happy to know. I recently, I think I
hope didn't completely weird someone out when I told him
about who se urchins wearing hats and I was at
(13:45):
a sushi place and he was looking at me, like
you good. I was like, no, they really do, they
really do worry. Oh you know, it was really cute.
It is also delicious. Thank you. But we like these facts.
They help us out absolutely. Yes, But we do have
(14:06):
quiet history for you.
Speaker 2 (14:08):
We do, we do, and we are going to get
into that as soon as we get back from a
quick break forward from our sponsors.
Speaker 1 (14:22):
And we're back. Thank you sponsors, Yes, thank you. Okay,
So the history of spreads like apple butter, they go
back to ancient times. I feel like we've talked about
some of them, but apple butter's history most likely goes
back to Germany and Belgium during the Middle Ages, when
monks may have made apple butter at monasteries as a
way to use up apples from their orchards, which is
(14:46):
a pretty common running theme through apple butter's history. Most
historians believe that apple butter arrived in America with early
Germans who settled in the mid Atlantic States, and that yes,
it was a popular way to preserve apples, especially during
colder month vents. A variety of apple trees thrived in
these areas and in South and central Appalachia, and it
(15:06):
wasn't uncommon for people to have a small orchard or
even just a handful of trees. Of course, people wanted
to find ways to preserve these apples so that they
could be consumed throughout the year, which included slicing and
drying them and making them into apple butter. And since
making apple butter can be a bit of a slog,
(15:27):
many recipes called for big batches, and the long process
of making it often became something a community undertook together,
passing the time with gossip or sharing stories or news,
perhaps even matchmaking. I read, according to one source, recipes
from this time frequently called for boiling a whole barrel
of cider. Three are maybe many more bushels of apples,
(15:50):
and anywhere around ten to fifteen hours of pretty much
constant stirring.
Speaker 2 (15:55):
Yeah, yeah, like dedicated process. In a cookbook from eighteen
forty called Directions for Cookery in its Various Branches, the
author Miss Eliza Leslie wrote, it is not worthwhile to
prepare apple butter on a small scale.
Speaker 1 (16:10):
Yes, so families and communities had their own apple preferences,
ad ins, like spices, and methods as well. Do you
stir in a figure eight pattern? Do you put coins
in the kettle to allegedly keep the apple butter from
sticking to the bottom.
Speaker 2 (16:27):
I read a rhyme for one method of stirring to
remind you how to do it twice around the side
and once down the middle. That's the way to stir
the apple butter kittle.
Speaker 1 (16:39):
Yes, there's a lot of like kind of folklore stories
like that behind apple butter, which I enjoy. But the
resulting apple butter was used with all kinds of things
like oatmeal or bread, but also alongside fatty meats like
pork or just straight up by the spoonful. In eighteen
eighty one Wisconsin article read, apple butter is a tedious
(17:00):
thing to make. It is best to have a merrymaking
over that apple pairing and stirring, as it is very
heavy work for one or two persons.
Speaker 2 (17:08):
Part of that matchmaking that you referenced earlier. I can't
remember what article I read it in, but it was
talking about how like you had to make sure to
pair up the stirs, like if they were like a
couple kids that were flirting, like you send them to
stir together so that they can like carry on a
good conversation while they're doing this work that you know,
kind of stinks, right, right.
Speaker 1 (17:30):
And I also read some about like if you spill.
If a woman spilled the apple butter out the side,
she was not gonna be a good wire.
Speaker 2 (17:40):
All right. Well, a recipe from the early eighteen forties.
It indicated this same like like it's a lot of work,
but also a party thing. It read late in the autumn,
when the evening's become quite long, invite one of those
social parties to your house, which are made truly social
(18:01):
by being gathered for the purpose of some useful and
seasonable work. Appropriately, they have been called bees, for they
are busy seasons when drones have no place. Commit to
these good hearted and merry neighbors six bushels of their
sweet apples, And so the ladies at work, pairing, quartering,
and cooring them. Meanwhile, let the boys or young men
be engaged in boiling down two barrels of new cider
(18:23):
to the dimensions of one, and so on and so forth.
Speaker 1 (18:27):
Yes, and I did love that there were so many
terms for these kind of hangouts. Another one I saw
was for the process of peeling apples was snitting, from
the Pennsylvania Dutch word snits, which probably came from the
German word schnitzen, meaning to slice or carve. And so
sometimes these get togethers were called schnitzing parties.
Speaker 2 (18:49):
Which is great. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (18:50):
Yes, Recipes and advertisements for apple butter were being published
in the US by the mid eighteen hundreds.
Speaker 2 (18:58):
It was also touted as a good way to use
apples that weren't like good enough for sale by themselves,
because during the process you could cut away any damage
and be left with like a decent amount of good fruit.
A gardening periodical called Vix Monthly Magazine ran a feature
on this in eighteen eighty seven.
Speaker 1 (19:14):
Commercialized apple butter operations started opening in the US and
late eighteen hundreds to the early mid nineteen hundreds, most
producing something other than the butter too, like apple cider.
And these operations ranged in size from perhaps a small
farm to something bigger like a cider, and some of
them are still still running. One thing I found, which
(19:35):
is apparently currently controversial, goes back to the nineteen fifties
when some families started putting in red hots, which is
that hot cinnamon candy, into their batches of apple butter
to replace cinnamon sticks if they couldn't be found or
the powder cinnamon powder was too expensive. Apparently some people
still do that, and it's like it causes some heated
(19:58):
art lemon. Yes, but jumping a bit ahead to today.
While it is easy to purchase apple butter in the
US and there are simpler ways to make it than
what we've been discussing, several communities and families have held
onto that traditional practice, the recipes, the equipment over generations,
(20:22):
as well, gathering to work together to make apple butter
that is then given as gifts, or used in fundraisers,
or stored away for eating, maybe all of the above.
This is where I found the article with the guy.
I thought it was very funny because at the end
he was like, I don't even really like it, but
we do it every year and I look forward to it, Yeah,
(20:43):
because it's kind of a big party. Yes, and I'm
given to understand apple butter in the process of making
it is common at places like Colonial Williamsburg. I'm not
sure if it's there, but places like that. I think
we did it for Old Fashion Day, which is something
my school did in elementary school, and it had the
(21:05):
old fashioned peeler.
Speaker 2 (21:07):
Oh sure y yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1 (21:10):
Yes, but yeah, listeners right in. That's just something I
sort of saw in a couple places but couldn't really
pin down.
Speaker 2 (21:17):
Sure, yeah, I mean it's also a product that is
still available in other places like Germany. Other cultures have
apple preserves.
Speaker 1 (21:26):
It's not like.
Speaker 2 (21:27):
This is an extremely singular American thing.
Speaker 1 (21:32):
But but yeah, yeah yeah, and once again, listeners from
other countries. Oh yes, yes, right in, yes, listeners from
it anywhere please, right. But I think that's what we
have to say about Apple butter for now.
Speaker 2 (21:49):
Yes, we do already have some listening mail for you, though,
and we are going to get into that as soon
as we get back from one work. Quick break for
a word from our sponsors.
Speaker 1 (22:04):
And we're back. Thank you sponsor, Yes, thank you, and
we're back with listener.
Speaker 2 (22:12):
Man.
Speaker 1 (22:16):
Like an autumn breeze, even though it's very cold winter
rug now, I can look back and reminisce you can,
you can, I can? I do frequently. I'm very cold
right now. Once again, all once again, Julie wrote, I
(22:38):
just listened to the papaya episode and wanted to share
my favorite way to use papaya. My husband is from
Mexico City and I'm from the Pacific Northwest. I had
never tried papaya before we got together. We make what
my husband calls a milkshake, but not like American milkshakes,
no ice cream. Put write papaya, milk, pecans, cinnamon, and vanilla.
You can add a little sugar if you like, and Blint,
(23:00):
It's sweet, creamy deliciousness. You have to try it. Thanks
for introducing me to so many new foods. I have
tried several of the past topics and like you all
have a list of way more I'd like to try,
so I might just have to do a banquet as well,
a tradition I like it. Yes, Savor, you have to
(23:20):
have a banquet at some point.
Speaker 2 (23:22):
Confusing banquet.
Speaker 1 (23:23):
Oh, I love it. The confusing banquet, that's what we
call it. And this sounds lovely. Yeah, drink so good?
Yeah yeah, just like a light refreshing, a nice smoothie situation.
Yeah yeah, definitely want to try it. Add that to
(23:44):
our banquet for sure.
Speaker 2 (23:48):
Paya okay. Eric wrote about a few things, starting with
mulled wine. It's definitely a nice winter drink. I really
like them when they are spiced well with the more
earthy spices. When they go sweet, I do not find
them enjoyable. I've made it with Cabernet savignon before adding
star and a cinnamon sticks, crystallized ginger clove, a couple
of peppercorns, dash of fresh nutmeg, and a halved orange.
(24:10):
Maybe a dash or two of quantro or a Grand
Marnier if I'm feeling spiffy. Not sure why, but when
on the dickens a side with the mention of tim curry,
it made me think of this What would Rocky horror
Christmas story look like back on the cookie table? Yes, Lauren,
there are tons of opinions. It really depends on the
(24:31):
family history. You can talk to a bunch of people
and probably get ten episodes on how to do cookie tables.
Been way, way, way too long since I've had dim sum.
I need to find a good place around here that's
easy to get to. The places I know are just
not a convenient drive winding drives, finding parking. The one
place I really like is smaller and you order off
(24:52):
a card. They also have an open kitchen where you
see everything being made. Fun to watch them pulling noodles
with the soup dumpling I've always in the spoon, poked
the top of the chopstick and then add just a
dash of sauce. I don't think we have a pushcart
place here. I'm all in on a D and D
cookie table. We'll add it to the feast. Christine bringing
(25:14):
up stolen and a Fefernusa along with panatone was great.
All kinds of Christmas stuff, Christmas pastries from around the
world would probably be at least fifteen or twenty episodes.
Speaker 1 (25:27):
I'm beginning to realize that cookies alone. I mean, that's
an endeavor.
Speaker 2 (25:34):
I try to throw in like one baked good every
month or so because there are so many of them.
A lot of them do have these really interesting specific stories,
a lot of which run along the same lines of like,
and then some bakers in a city under siege created
this cookie and it allowed the people of the city
(25:56):
to live through.
Speaker 1 (25:57):
The siege situation.
Speaker 2 (25:59):
And I'm like, how many cookies can that be true for?
Speaker 1 (26:02):
And then they like might resemble their enemy, which I
find really interesting because it's like eating your enemy.
Speaker 2 (26:10):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (26:11):
No, cool, you know.
Speaker 2 (26:13):
Yeah, No, we get up to all kinds of stuff.
Speaker 1 (26:19):
The D and D cookie table. I think we can
make that work. I think we could do it.
Speaker 2 (26:22):
Yeah, different different, different themed themed cookies for for different
races and classes. I think it could totally work out.
Speaker 1 (26:31):
Yeah. I did want to thank you, Lauren, because you
told me how to eat the soup dumpling properly.
Speaker 2 (26:42):
Oh.
Speaker 1 (26:42):
I've recently came into a lot of soup dumplings. Oh yeah,
and it's been amazing. It was a game changer because
I was just eating them full without without letting the
releasing the soup. Yeah, and it.
Speaker 2 (26:56):
Was good, but you would burn your mouth every time.
Speaker 1 (26:59):
Yeah, yeah, but this is a much nicer delivery of
like the soup and the dum Yes.
Speaker 2 (27:04):
So I'm very grateful, Thank you anytime. Thank the Internet.
The Internet is where I found this information. The furthermore
rocky horror Christmas story is definitely I think it fits.
I think it makes sense. I think that Franken Furter
would make an excellent Scrooge.
Speaker 1 (27:25):
I think so. I can see this easily.
Speaker 2 (27:28):
I mean, it's like two sides of the same character.
It's like Santa Claus and Carampus.
Speaker 1 (27:33):
You know. Yeah, he does have he has he has
a lot of depth of emotion. Sometimes he's really happy,
sometimes he's not like us all. See.
Speaker 2 (27:47):
Yeah, so I can see it.
Speaker 1 (27:50):
I can see it. Yes.
Speaker 3 (27:55):
Oh heck well, well, thanks to both of these listeners
for writing in uh.
Speaker 1 (28:06):
If you would like to write to es, you can
our emails hello at saverpod dot com.
Speaker 2 (28:10):
We're also on social media. You can find us on Twitter, Facebook,
or Instagram at saver pod and we do hope to
hear from you. Save is production of iHeartRadio. For more
podcasts from my iHeartRadio, you can visit the iHeartRadio app.
Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.
Thanks as always to our super producers Dylan Fagan and
Andrew Howard. Thanks to you for listening, and we hope
(28:31):
that lots of more good things are coming your way.
Hello, and welcome to Savior Production. iHeartRadio. I'm Annie Reas.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
And I'm Moarned Vocal Bomb, and today we have an
episode for you about apple butter.
Speaker 1 (00:17):
Yes, was there a particular reason this was on your mind? Lord?
Speaker 2 (00:21):
Ah? Okay, so what had happened? Was I this? This
episode was supposed to come out on the second of
February originally in the timeline, and that's Groundhog Day. And
I was like, I don't know, are there any traditional
groundhog Day foods? And after going on a short but
(00:45):
not very fruitful no pun intended a rabbit hole about
the movie Groundhog Day, I started looking into Pennsylvania Dutch
foods and I was like, apple butter. That sounds so nice.
Speaker 1 (01:00):
Yeah, and it is nice.
Speaker 2 (01:02):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (01:02):
I have a friend that gives me some. Oh yeah, yeah,
it's pretty nice. I actually haven't gotten any in a while,
but for a while it was a standard like gift
once per year. Yeah, yeah, I should contact her about that.
I don't think I had apple butter INUNTI pretty late
(01:23):
in life, really, yeah, I just missed out on all
of those jams and things.
Speaker 2 (01:31):
Your family just didn't didn't have any in the house.
Speaker 1 (01:35):
No, No, definitely not, but I did. I grew up
near a place in North Georgia called l J, and
l J has a lot of orchards and name like
apple cider, donuts, apple fried pies, like pretty much anything
you could imagine with apples, And they have apple butter
and I used to get some from there when we
(01:56):
would go. The thing is, I never went through enough
to like, you know, use, like to have one coming
in per year. It's true, I didn't. I didn't really
have need for it, but I do. I do enjoy it.
Speaker 2 (02:11):
Yeah, yeah. I similarly like I don't consume a lot
of preserves, It's right. Yeah, yeah, In general, I just
don't eat a whole lot of added sugar and things.
But but now that I'm thinking about it, I'm kind
of like, why don't Why don't I put some on
every cheese plate that I make? Why, yes, do I
(02:32):
not put some on my grilled cheese sandwiches? Why why
am I not using this, you know, as like part
of a glaze on like roast vegetables or something like that.
That would be delicious, Yes.
Speaker 1 (02:48):
It would be. And there are a lot more uses
for apple butter than I had previously considered, And I'm sure. Yes, yes,
you can see our apple episode. Yes, it feels like
so long time ago.
Speaker 2 (03:07):
It was so a long time ago.
Speaker 1 (03:09):
Yeah, Lauren and I are We've had some interesting mornings.
A little fla flazzard flstered, Yes.
Speaker 2 (03:19):
Exactly like that.
Speaker 1 (03:22):
We did do an episode on apple pie and cider cider.
I would say, sure, yes, But I guess that brings
us to our question.
Speaker 2 (03:30):
I guess it does.
Speaker 1 (03:33):
Oh, here we go, apple butter. What is it?
Speaker 2 (03:41):
Well, apple butter is a type of condiment made from
apples and warm spices, cooked down with a bit of
liquid into a mash until it eventually becomes like a thick,
spreadable brown paste, as spreadable like soft butter. No butter
was harmed the making of this condiment. Different recipes call
(04:02):
for different methods and seasonings. It might be a little
bit more smooth or a little bit more schunky. You
might have apple cider or even apple cider vinegar in
there for a little bit of tartness, a flavorful sweetener
of some kind like a maple syrup or brown sugar,
spices like cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger cloves. Over the low and
slow cooking process, it gets just impressively creamy tasting for
(04:25):
something that again does not contain dairy and develops these
lovely like toasty, caramelized kind of flavors. And yeah, it
can be used like any jam or jelly, as a
sweet spread on toast or sandwiches, as a filling in
sweet baked goods flavoring, and sauces or glazes for savory
dishes like roasts doll upon a cheese plate. Yeah, it's
(04:46):
like a it's like a Pokemon evolution of apple sauce.
It's like apple marmalade, like like a like a pie
and a jar, like like autumn in a jar, smooth
wind and cracklingly and the bright sun filtering through the
red gold canopy. Yeah. Yeah, just nice, just nice, it
(05:12):
really is. But yeah, so there are a lot of
possible iterations of apple butter that come down to tradition
and personal preference and what you have on hand. Because
this is definitely like a way to use up too
many apples and to preserve that flavor and maybe a
tiny bit of nutrition mostly flavor, perhaps like you've mostly
(05:34):
broken down the nutritive parts of the apple when you
were making apple butter at any rate, Yeah, but yeah,
you can use sweet apples and very little additional sweetener,
just just a little bit for flair, you know, or
tart apples with quite a bit of sugar to help
balance them out, or a combination things like brown sugar, molasses,
(05:54):
or maple syrup add add nice hints of extra flavor
to the apples. You often want apples that really do
turn to mush when they're heated, the opposite of the
kind that you turn to when you want them to
retain their form in a pie, you know, because you
want the final product to be varyingly smooth. You're usually
going to peel and core your apples and then quarter
(06:17):
them or give them a rough chop to help increase
surface area for quicker cooking. Old recipes often say pair
in core instead of peel in core, means the same thing.
Sum recipes do call for leaving in the skin and
maybe the cores too, for extra flavor and like straining
them out later. Those won't really help with pectin because
(06:38):
there's so much more pectin in the flesh of an
apple than there is in the skin. Pectin being a
type of fiber that's found in the cell walls of plants.
Like apples that can help foods gel up, And that's
part of what's happening here. The pectin already present in
apples means that you don't need to add more the
way that you might when you're making some other jam
(07:00):
and jellies. Using apple cider really does help deepen the flavor.
By apple cider, I mean unfiltered, unsweetened apple juice that
has not been allowed to ferment. A lot of old
recipes call for starting with apple cider like a bunch
of applesider, reducing it by half, and then adding your
apples in to start simmering. Some recipes call for vinegar
(07:22):
or apple cider vinegar to brighten the flavor of the
final product. And yeah, you're looking to cook this low
and slow, stirring more and more frequently. As the apples
break down into mash to prevent them from sticking and burning,
you really want to get in there and scrape the
sides in the bottom. If your apples don't break down
by themselves, you might want to mash them. To physically
(07:43):
mash them yourself in some way. You generally add your
spices ground. During this mash stage. You're often cooking the
apple mash for a long time, and even though you
are going low and slow, like you don't want to
cook off your flavors. The aforementioned cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger clothes
are common, but you can use whatever you like, allspice, mace, cardamom,
(08:04):
black pepper, lemon, zest, summers peas call for fermented apple
cider or even like an apple brandy or something like
rum or bourbon that sounds really nice m h. And
it's done when it's very thick, like so thick that
a scoop and a spoon will totally maintain its shape,
(08:25):
or if no liquid separates out from the main lump
in the spoon. Yeah, it'll be a spreadable sort of
preserve ruby brown in color from caramelization. It looks opaq
in a jar, but will be translucent when you spread it,
like like jelly or stained glass. Yep. It can be
stored that way in the fridge or the freezer, or
(08:47):
you can can it and it'll keep unopened on a
shelf for you know, pretty much. Ever, it can also
be made things like pears or quints or pumpkin, sometimes
mixed together with apples. I can't tell you what to
do important note here. Anything acidic like this you should
use a non reactive pan to cook with. There are
a lot of old accounts of using copper kettles for
(09:09):
apple butter, and that sounds real pretty. But when you
cook acidic things in unlined reactive pots, it can leach
some of whatever metal the pot is made of into
your food, which is not ideal health wise. Stainless steel
is a good choice, or you know, check to make
sure that your cookwar is lined on the inside. A
lot of copper cooking vessels are lined these days for
(09:30):
exactly this reason. You can also do it in the
oven in any kind of bakewear, and there are modern
recipes for using slow cookers and or pressure cookers, which
I'm fascinated about. I have not played with an instant pot,
but this sounds like a great application for it. Yes,
and then right then you have apple butter and you
(09:50):
can use it as you would any fruit spread often
served as a topping for bread, sometimes along with dairy
butter as well, or as an accompaniment or a glaze
ingredient for roasts as a filling, and cookies as spread
and sandwiches. And furthermore, if you were in Pennsylvania Dutch Country.
You might see signs on restaurants advertising seven sweets and
(10:13):
seven sours, and this is a concept of balancing sweet
and sour flavors with different dishes and condiments throughout a meal.
And apple butter is generally a component of that. Ooh
listeners right in Pence, the Greater Pennsylvania area being one
of the places where this condiment has really taken form.
Speaker 1 (10:38):
Yes, wow, what about the nutrition, it's.
Speaker 2 (10:42):
Treat treats are nice.
Speaker 1 (10:46):
Yes, sometimes you need them, you do. Sometimes you've had
a day and they do.
Speaker 2 (10:54):
I feel like, in general, you're not really consuming enough
apple butter to be like a little like oh man
like yeah.
Speaker 1 (11:01):
I did read some funny accounts of people eating a
lot of apple buttery, and one of my one of
my favorite was at the end of the article, he
was like, I don't even really like it. It's just tradition. Also, go,
I know what you're talking about, buddy, I know what
you're talking about. Yeah, Well, we do have some numbers
(11:26):
for you. Most of them are festival based.
Speaker 2 (11:30):
They are they are.
Speaker 1 (11:32):
Yeah. There are several apple butter festivals.
Speaker 2 (11:37):
Any number, any number of them. Just three that we
pulled numbers for okay. There's one in Grand Rapids, Ohio
called Apple Butterfest. It's been running since nineteen seventy seven.
Around forty thousand people attend every year these days, and
there are historical reenactments, a classic car show, apparently a
(11:57):
lot of broughtworst sounds cool, it's cool. I'm into that. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (12:02):
Uh.
Speaker 2 (12:02):
Groveport, Ohio holds an Apple Buttered Day every October. Last
year was the fiftieth anniversary. There's a spelling bee, a
pie eating contest, cane pole fishing derby, and of course
a lot of apple butter.
Speaker 1 (12:16):
Cane pole fishing, m.
Speaker 2 (12:21):
Yeppers. That's what I read cool. And then Berkeley Springs,
West Virginia, has one, also in October that features a
rubber duck race, a beard and mustache contest, a baking contest,
a quilt raffle, and a hog calling contest, which no
hogs are expected to attend. So you're just calling for you,
(12:44):
You're you're collin hogs, You're yeah, Okay, okay. I think
it's a I think it's a creative and and and
partially musical endeavor. I believe, I'm not I'm not totally sure.
I didn't I did research deeply into the hogcom contest,
but it sounded really cool, so I wanted to I
(13:06):
wanted to report upon it briefly. Yes, I am not
being sarcastic. I know that my sarcasm voice sounds really
close to my normal voice. I am being one hundred
percent sincere. This sounds amazing.
Speaker 1 (13:20):
It does. And once again, listeners, if you have been
to any of these oh my goodness, I have answers
to our questions about these activities. I would like to yes, yes, yes, yes,
you'll be happy to know. I recently, I think I
hope didn't completely weird someone out when I told him
about who se urchins wearing hats and I was at
(13:45):
a sushi place and he was looking at me, like
you good. I was like, no, they really do, they
really do worry. Oh you know, it was really cute.
It is also delicious. Thank you. But we like these facts.
They help us out absolutely. Yes, But we do have
(14:06):
quiet history for you.
Speaker 2 (14:08):
We do, we do, and we are going to get
into that as soon as we get back from a
quick break forward from our sponsors.
Speaker 1 (14:22):
And we're back. Thank you sponsors, Yes, thank you. Okay,
So the history of spreads like apple butter, they go
back to ancient times. I feel like we've talked about
some of them, but apple butter's history most likely goes
back to Germany and Belgium during the Middle Ages, when
monks may have made apple butter at monasteries as a
way to use up apples from their orchards, which is
(14:46):
a pretty common running theme through apple butter's history. Most
historians believe that apple butter arrived in America with early
Germans who settled in the mid Atlantic States, and that yes,
it was a popular way to preserve apples, especially during
colder month vents. A variety of apple trees thrived in
these areas and in South and central Appalachia, and it
(15:06):
wasn't uncommon for people to have a small orchard or
even just a handful of trees. Of course, people wanted
to find ways to preserve these apples so that they
could be consumed throughout the year, which included slicing and
drying them and making them into apple butter. And since
making apple butter can be a bit of a slog,
(15:27):
many recipes called for big batches, and the long process
of making it often became something a community undertook together,
passing the time with gossip or sharing stories or news,
perhaps even matchmaking. I read, according to one source, recipes
from this time frequently called for boiling a whole barrel
of cider. Three are maybe many more bushels of apples,
(15:50):
and anywhere around ten to fifteen hours of pretty much
constant stirring.
Speaker 2 (15:55):
Yeah, yeah, like dedicated process. In a cookbook from eighteen
forty called Directions for Cookery in its Various Branches, the
author Miss Eliza Leslie wrote, it is not worthwhile to
prepare apple butter on a small scale.
Speaker 1 (16:10):
Yes, so families and communities had their own apple preferences,
ad ins, like spices, and methods as well. Do you
stir in a figure eight pattern? Do you put coins
in the kettle to allegedly keep the apple butter from
sticking to the bottom.
Speaker 2 (16:27):
I read a rhyme for one method of stirring to
remind you how to do it twice around the side
and once down the middle. That's the way to stir
the apple butter kittle.
Speaker 1 (16:39):
Yes, there's a lot of like kind of folklore stories
like that behind apple butter, which I enjoy. But the
resulting apple butter was used with all kinds of things
like oatmeal or bread, but also alongside fatty meats like
pork or just straight up by the spoonful. In eighteen
eighty one Wisconsin article read, apple butter is a tedious
(17:00):
thing to make. It is best to have a merrymaking
over that apple pairing and stirring, as it is very
heavy work for one or two persons.
Speaker 2 (17:08):
Part of that matchmaking that you referenced earlier. I can't
remember what article I read it in, but it was
talking about how like you had to make sure to
pair up the stirs, like if they were like a
couple kids that were flirting, like you send them to
stir together so that they can like carry on a
good conversation while they're doing this work that you know,
kind of stinks, right, right.
Speaker 1 (17:30):
And I also read some about like if you spill.
If a woman spilled the apple butter out the side,
she was not gonna be a good wire.
Speaker 2 (17:40):
All right. Well, a recipe from the early eighteen forties.
It indicated this same like like it's a lot of work,
but also a party thing. It read late in the autumn,
when the evening's become quite long, invite one of those
social parties to your house, which are made truly social
(18:01):
by being gathered for the purpose of some useful and
seasonable work. Appropriately, they have been called bees, for they
are busy seasons when drones have no place. Commit to
these good hearted and merry neighbors six bushels of their
sweet apples, And so the ladies at work, pairing, quartering,
and cooring them. Meanwhile, let the boys or young men
be engaged in boiling down two barrels of new cider
(18:23):
to the dimensions of one, and so on and so forth.
Speaker 1 (18:27):
Yes, and I did love that there were so many
terms for these kind of hangouts. Another one I saw
was for the process of peeling apples was snitting, from
the Pennsylvania Dutch word snits, which probably came from the
German word schnitzen, meaning to slice or carve. And so
sometimes these get togethers were called schnitzing parties.
Speaker 2 (18:49):
Which is great. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (18:50):
Yes, Recipes and advertisements for apple butter were being published
in the US by the mid eighteen hundreds.
Speaker 2 (18:58):
It was also touted as a good way to use
apples that weren't like good enough for sale by themselves,
because during the process you could cut away any damage
and be left with like a decent amount of good fruit.
A gardening periodical called Vix Monthly Magazine ran a feature
on this in eighteen eighty seven.
Speaker 1 (19:14):
Commercialized apple butter operations started opening in the US and
late eighteen hundreds to the early mid nineteen hundreds, most
producing something other than the butter too, like apple cider.
And these operations ranged in size from perhaps a small
farm to something bigger like a cider, and some of
them are still still running. One thing I found, which
(19:35):
is apparently currently controversial, goes back to the nineteen fifties
when some families started putting in red hots, which is
that hot cinnamon candy, into their batches of apple butter
to replace cinnamon sticks if they couldn't be found or
the powder cinnamon powder was too expensive. Apparently some people
still do that, and it's like it causes some heated
(19:58):
art lemon. Yes, but jumping a bit ahead to today.
While it is easy to purchase apple butter in the
US and there are simpler ways to make it than
what we've been discussing, several communities and families have held
onto that traditional practice, the recipes, the equipment over generations,
(20:22):
as well, gathering to work together to make apple butter
that is then given as gifts, or used in fundraisers,
or stored away for eating, maybe all of the above.
This is where I found the article with the guy.
I thought it was very funny because at the end
he was like, I don't even really like it, but
we do it every year and I look forward to it, Yeah,
(20:43):
because it's kind of a big party. Yes, and I'm
given to understand apple butter in the process of making
it is common at places like Colonial Williamsburg. I'm not
sure if it's there, but places like that. I think
we did it for Old Fashion Day, which is something
my school did in elementary school, and it had the
(21:05):
old fashioned peeler.
Speaker 2 (21:07):
Oh sure y yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1 (21:10):
Yes, but yeah, listeners right in. That's just something I
sort of saw in a couple places but couldn't really
pin down.
Speaker 2 (21:17):
Sure, yeah, I mean it's also a product that is
still available in other places like Germany. Other cultures have
apple preserves.
Speaker 1 (21:26):
It's not like.
Speaker 2 (21:27):
This is an extremely singular American thing.
Speaker 1 (21:32):
But but yeah, yeah yeah, and once again, listeners from
other countries. Oh yes, yes, right in, yes, listeners from
it anywhere please, right. But I think that's what we
have to say about Apple butter for now.
Speaker 2 (21:49):
Yes, we do already have some listening mail for you, though,
and we are going to get into that as soon
as we get back from one work. Quick break for
a word from our sponsors.
Speaker 1 (22:04):
And we're back. Thank you sponsor, Yes, thank you, and
we're back with listener.
Speaker 2 (22:12):
Man.
Speaker 1 (22:16):
Like an autumn breeze, even though it's very cold winter
rug now, I can look back and reminisce you can,
you can, I can? I do frequently. I'm very cold
right now. Once again, all once again, Julie wrote, I
(22:38):
just listened to the papaya episode and wanted to share
my favorite way to use papaya. My husband is from
Mexico City and I'm from the Pacific Northwest. I had
never tried papaya before we got together. We make what
my husband calls a milkshake, but not like American milkshakes,
no ice cream. Put write papaya, milk, pecans, cinnamon, and vanilla.
You can add a little sugar if you like, and Blint,
(23:00):
It's sweet, creamy deliciousness. You have to try it. Thanks
for introducing me to so many new foods. I have
tried several of the past topics and like you all
have a list of way more I'd like to try,
so I might just have to do a banquet as well,
a tradition I like it. Yes, Savor, you have to
(23:20):
have a banquet at some point.
Speaker 2 (23:22):
Confusing banquet.
Speaker 1 (23:23):
Oh, I love it. The confusing banquet, that's what we
call it. And this sounds lovely. Yeah, drink so good?
Yeah yeah, just like a light refreshing, a nice smoothie situation.
Yeah yeah, definitely want to try it. Add that to
(23:44):
our banquet for sure.
Speaker 2 (23:48):
Paya okay. Eric wrote about a few things, starting with
mulled wine. It's definitely a nice winter drink. I really
like them when they are spiced well with the more
earthy spices. When they go sweet, I do not find
them enjoyable. I've made it with Cabernet savignon before adding
star and a cinnamon sticks, crystallized ginger clove, a couple
of peppercorns, dash of fresh nutmeg, and a halved orange.
(24:10):
Maybe a dash or two of quantro or a Grand
Marnier if I'm feeling spiffy. Not sure why, but when
on the dickens a side with the mention of tim curry,
it made me think of this What would Rocky horror
Christmas story look like back on the cookie table? Yes, Lauren,
there are tons of opinions. It really depends on the
(24:31):
family history. You can talk to a bunch of people
and probably get ten episodes on how to do cookie tables.
Been way, way, way too long since I've had dim sum.
I need to find a good place around here that's
easy to get to. The places I know are just
not a convenient drive winding drives, finding parking. The one
place I really like is smaller and you order off
(24:52):
a card. They also have an open kitchen where you
see everything being made. Fun to watch them pulling noodles
with the soup dumpling I've always in the spoon, poked
the top of the chopstick and then add just a
dash of sauce. I don't think we have a pushcart
place here. I'm all in on a D and D
cookie table. We'll add it to the feast. Christine bringing
(25:14):
up stolen and a Fefernusa along with panatone was great.
All kinds of Christmas stuff, Christmas pastries from around the
world would probably be at least fifteen or twenty episodes.
Speaker 1 (25:27):
I'm beginning to realize that cookies alone. I mean, that's
an endeavor.
Speaker 2 (25:34):
I try to throw in like one baked good every
month or so because there are so many of them.
A lot of them do have these really interesting specific stories,
a lot of which run along the same lines of like,
and then some bakers in a city under siege created
this cookie and it allowed the people of the city
(25:56):
to live through.
Speaker 1 (25:57):
The siege situation.
Speaker 2 (25:59):
And I'm like, how many cookies can that be true for?
Speaker 1 (26:02):
And then they like might resemble their enemy, which I
find really interesting because it's like eating your enemy.
Speaker 2 (26:10):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (26:11):
No, cool, you know.
Speaker 2 (26:13):
Yeah, No, we get up to all kinds of stuff.
Speaker 1 (26:19):
The D and D cookie table. I think we can
make that work. I think we could do it.
Speaker 2 (26:22):
Yeah, different different, different themed themed cookies for for different
races and classes. I think it could totally work out.
Speaker 1 (26:31):
Yeah. I did want to thank you, Lauren, because you
told me how to eat the soup dumpling properly.
Speaker 2 (26:42):
Oh.
Speaker 1 (26:42):
I've recently came into a lot of soup dumplings. Oh yeah,
and it's been amazing. It was a game changer because
I was just eating them full without without letting the
releasing the soup. Yeah, and it.
Speaker 2 (26:56):
Was good, but you would burn your mouth every time.
Speaker 1 (26:59):
Yeah, yeah, but this is a much nicer delivery of
like the soup and the dum Yes.
Speaker 2 (27:04):
So I'm very grateful, Thank you anytime. Thank the Internet.
The Internet is where I found this information. The furthermore
rocky horror Christmas story is definitely I think it fits.
I think it makes sense. I think that Franken Furter
would make an excellent Scrooge.
Speaker 1 (27:25):
I think so. I can see this easily.
Speaker 2 (27:28):
I mean, it's like two sides of the same character.
It's like Santa Claus and Carampus.
Speaker 1 (27:33):
You know. Yeah, he does have he has he has
a lot of depth of emotion. Sometimes he's really happy,
sometimes he's not like us all. See.
Speaker 2 (27:47):
Yeah, so I can see it.
Speaker 1 (27:50):
I can see it. Yes.
Speaker 3 (27:55):
Oh heck well, well, thanks to both of these listeners
for writing in uh.
Speaker 1 (28:06):
If you would like to write to es, you can
our emails hello at saverpod dot com.
Speaker 2 (28:10):
We're also on social media. You can find us on Twitter, Facebook,
or Instagram at saver pod and we do hope to
hear from you. Save is production of iHeartRadio. For more
podcasts from my iHeartRadio, you can visit the iHeartRadio app.
Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.
Thanks as always to our super producers Dylan Fagan and
Andrew Howard. Thanks to you for listening, and we hope
(28:31):
that lots of more good things are coming your way.
Savor News
Hosts And Creators
Dylan Fagan
Anney Reese
Lauren Vogelbaum
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