BY ANASTASIA CHOO

Is there anything that feels more nostalgic or autumnal than a basket of freshly picked apples? Each year in October a friend brings me an abundant mix of Cox’s Orange Pippins, Worcester Pearmain and Egremont Russets from her orchard to celebrate a delicious harvest.  As an apple grower she is aware that traditional English apples are in danger of becoming some dwindling heritage curiosities, ousted from supermarkets by the Antipodean Four – Gala, Braeburn, Jazz and Pink Lady.

The problem is that with supermarkets supplying most of our fruit and home-grown produce having to compete with cheaper imported goods such as the Antipodean Four – compliant in shape and size to the requirements of conveyor belts and moulded polystyrene boxes – these are what we have come to expect an apple to be.

Our over-exposure to sugar has numbed our taste buds sufficiently for only the sweetest…