Worcestershire Pearmain Apple

Autumn is here. Summer is wonderful, and I have no complaints when September has Indian Summer weather and the carefree summer vibe can linger on. That said, I do love the cosiness of autumn and find a kind of security in the rhythm of autumn days- the best kind of a back-to-school feeling despite being well past school age, with the added promise of evenings curled around a bottle of red wine and snuggling up against the cold.  Part of this romantic ideal of autumn for me is apple season.  I eat at least one apple every day throughout the year but admit that a fair proportion of these are imported from the reliable sun of South Africa when apples are out of season over here.  Now that it's mid-September, however, there is no excuse for such flagrant disregard of food miles.

I stumbled across several different varieties of English apples in the greengrocer's last week and selected one that appealed visually (and didn't yield to a gentle check of firmness..) This was the Worcestershire Pearmain.  Moderately sized and red and green-skinned, these are known for their strawberry flavour; see http://www.orangepippin.com/apples/worcester-pearmain for more details.

I only found out about the strawberry in the course of researching this post, but I did  taste floral and red fruit elements in this variety of apple.  The flesh was relatively crisp- to give an indication of where it falls in terms of red apples I'd say not as crisp as a Braeburn but crisper than your average Pink Lady.  It wasn't powdery at all which pleased me.  It was moderately juicy and with the tastebuds of faith I'd say I can see why people might describe the flavour as strawberry-like.

It pleased me to find this example of seasonal local produce, or at least produce from this country.  I've decided that I've been quite generous with my ratings and maybe need to be a little harsher, so this is getting 6/10.

Pimp my Mint Tea

Mint tea is pretty damn good, balancing as it does the soothing qualities of a warm cuppa with a refreshing mouth tingling zing.  It is drinkable in teabags from the supermarket and it is more delicate but still drinkable in the form of some leaves from the garden macerated (plus or minus a bit of helpful leaf-directed squishing from a teaspoon) in freshly boiled water.

I don't rate the genuine stuff from Morocco as drinkable; saturated sugar solutions aren't my thing, and I find the stewed mint flavour combined with the sweetness nauseating.  I had to politely sip at the stuff on far too many occasions during a holiday in Marrakech until I realised I could wait until The Photographer and The Bellydancer had finished theirs then discreetly swap our glasses. 

It was therefore with mixed feelings that I received a present from The Fiesta: a bag of Moroccan Mint loose herbal tea from The Cragg Sisters Tearoom in Aldeburgh- it could be good, it could be sickly, which way would it go?

Even just opening the bag released such a stream of minty freshness that my sinuses felt comprehensively invigorated.  It consisted of green gunpowder tea leaves mixed with dried peppermint leaves, and best of all for me, no sugar.

A pot of this tea was made in due course and I was delighted that I'd never imagined mint tea could taste this good.   It was the tea equivalent of the difference between freshly ground quality coffee and mediocre instant stuff.  The green gunpowder tea base gives the tea a strong backbone and staying power on top over which the clean taste of the peppermint can shine without becoming overwhelming.  9/10 for head clearing aromatic freshness.