Eat My Globe

How Do You Like them Apples?: The History of the Apple

INTRODUCTION

Simon Majumdar (“SM”):

Hey, April.

April Simpson (“AS”):

Yeah, Simon.

SM:

What is the apples favorite relative?

AS:

I don’t know Simon. What is the apples favorite relative?

SM:

A Granny.

[Laughter]

That’s a good one.

AS:

Oh.

INTRO MUSIC

SM:

Hi, everybody.

And, welcome to a brand-new episode of Eat My Globe, a podcast about things you didn’t know you didn’t know about food.

And on today’s very special episode we are going to be looking at the fascinating history of a fruit that is supposedly featured in the Bible, as something that is mentioned in literature, and is featured in art, as well as having a background that goes nearly all the way back to the very beginning of time. Yes, listeners, I am talking about the apple.

The apple, as we see it now, is part of the Rosaceae or rose family and is known by the Latin term, Malus domestica.

And as Merriam Webster describes it, it is

Quote

“the fleshy, usually rounded red, yellow, or green edible pome fruit of a usually cultivated tree (genus Malus) of the rose family.”

End quote.

So, now that we know what it means, let’s look at the origin of the word, “apple.”

The word, “apple,” actually came from the pre-Germanic term, “ap(a)laz,” to the pre-Indo-European word, “ab(e)l,” to the Old English word, “aepple.” According to Professor Lisa Lim at Curtin University in Perth, Australia, before the 17th century, people used the term, “apple,” to refer to all fruits except berries, and nuts. The earliest use of the word, as we know it, was just before the year 1150.

Today, there are apples that come from all over the world. As of 2022, China produced the most apples, giving the world 2.5 billion bushels. And in 2021 and 2022, Turkey was the second largest, but only producing 253 million bushels, way less than what China produces. And the United States came in third, producing 232 million bushels. In the US, Washington State is the largest producer of apples. In 2024 and 2025, the state produced 178.5 million bushels – which is most of all the apples produced in the US.

And there are now over 7,500 types of apple around the world being produced today.

But, where did the apple itself originate?

People smarter than me think that the modern apple or Malus domestica, likely originated from the wild apple or Malus sieversii around 10,000 years ago. These wild apples began in parts of the Tien Shan Mountains – which roughly translates to Heavenly Mountains. These are located in modern day Kazakhstan near northeastern China. There were a number of wild apples to be found in these mountains – at least 56 varieties. And, at least four types of these wild apples growing there supposedly came together as a hybrid to become the ancestors of our own modern apple.  

Geneticists in 2017 have actually confirmed the origin story of the apple. They found that there are two areas where wild apples or Malus sieversii come from – in Xinjiang in China and in the Tian Shan Mountains in Kazakhstan. And, the genetic data of these modern apples show that it came from the wild apples of Kazakhstan. They believe that the wild apples from China were isolated. Yang Bai, the co-author of the study, says that the wild apples from China were

Quote

“not getting involved in any of the domestic apples – they are a lost jewel hidden there in the Xinjiang area.”

End quote.

Now that we know that the apple as we know it originated in the Tian Shan Mountains in Kazakhstan, just as an aside, at the foot of these mountains is the city of Almaty, which actually means, “father of apples,” in the Kazakh language. Sybil and I visited this city in 2024. It is a beautiful place and proudly embraced the apple with art installations and statues celebrating it on just about every corner.

The city is very A-PEELing.

SM:

Oh gosh.

AS:

[Laughter]

SM:

Oh no. Okay, let’s get back to our story.

Among the first people to spread the apple outside Kazakhstan were the steppe nomads of Central Asia who, as ThoughtCo.com said,

Quote

“traveled in caravans along ancient trade routes predating the Silk Road.”

End quote.

This route was known as, “The Royal Road,” which opened 300 years before the Silk Road. It was founded by Darius I of the Persian Empire, and went from Susa – which is in modern day Iran – all the way to Sardis in present day Turkey – a distance of nearly 1,600 miles.

Later on, this Royal Road extended to Mesopotamia in modern day Iraq, where according to Andrew Dalby, author of “Food in the Ancient World,” says

Quote

“strings of sliced dried apple are described in literary sources.”

End quote.

Alexander the Great, the ancient Greek ruler and conqueror who used this Royal Road during his conquests, apparently had opinions on apples. Dalby said

Quote

“Alexander the Great found the best apples growing in Babylonia.”

End quote.

The Royal Road also went as far as Egypt.

The Han Dynasty, which existed from 206 BCE to 220 CE, started the Silk Road – which lasted from 130 BCE to 1453 CE – when it began trading with western nations. In these Silk Roads, traders not only ate the Kazakhstan wild apple or Malus sieversii but they also either planted them along the way, or they grew along the way as they discarded the seeds. These Kazakhstan wild apples then got mixed up with wild crabapples species like Malus sylvestris from Europe. So, the genetics of our modern apple is 46% Kazakhstan wild apples, 21% European wild crabapples, and 33% other sources.

Back on the Silk Road, in ancient Egypt, it is believed that apples first came to the area from Palestine at around 1300 BCE. They were known as “depeh.” The Egyptians planted orchards on the edges of the Nile Delta and this became one of the first apple orchards created by farmers.

From there, we begin to see the apple as part of the Greek diet at around 800 BCE. They began using grafting techniques. According to Encyclopedia Britanica, grafting is when you put together a part of a plant onto another plant’s stem, root, or branch so that they can grow together.

In Homer’s Odyssey – which is an epic Greek poem thought to have been written between 725 and 675 BCE – there is perhaps the first mention of apples in literature. As an English translation of the Odyssey says,

Quote

“The reddening apple ripens here to gold.”

End quote.

But, as Erika Janik points out in her book, “Apple: A Global History,” in ancient Greek, they called any round fruit of a tree as “Melon,” which means that while the English translation referred to an apple, the ancient Greek writing may have referred to the apple, or any other fruit that grows on a tree.

There are other tales of apples in Greek mythology. Perhaps the most famous one is from a myth that led to “The Judgement of Paris,” which set the beginning of the Trojan War. In this myth, the goddess of spite and discord named, Eris, sent an apple marked

Quote

“To the fairest.”

End quote.

This apple landed at the feet of goddesses Athena, Hera and Aphrodite. This caused strife between them all, as they all claimed to be the beauty described. The king of the gods, Zeus, determined that the Prince of Troy, whose name was Paris, would make the decision as to who was the fairest. The poor bloke. He didn’t know what was coming. Hera promised Paris that he would rule over the world if he chose Hera. Athena promised Paris that he would be victorious in war if he chose Athena. And Aphrodite promised Paris that he would have Helen of Sparta, who was supposedly quote, “the most beautiful woman in the world,” if he chose Aphrodite. Spoiler alert. Helen was already married. Paris wanted Helen, and so he determined that the apple belonged to Aphrodite. And so began the Trojan War.

As ancient Rome came to the table, as it were, we begin to see writers like Pliny the Elder mention apples in their work. Pliny notes there are recognizably 22 types of apple in the Roman world.

And in his work, “The Natural History,” Pliny mentions many of these including the “Persian Apple,” although this may be a peach. He also mentions other apples like the “Scandian Apple.” And in a book called, “Roman Farm Management: The Treaties of Cato and Varro,” they mention

Quote

“the varieties of apples known as Scantian, and ‘little rounds’ (orbiculata) and those which formerly were called winesap (mustea), and now are called honey apples (melimela).”

End quote.

And in the work by Columella called, “On Agriculture,” we find him mentioning

Quote

“the following kinds of apple should be especially sought after, the Scaudian, the Matian, the Globe-apple, the Cestine, the Pelusian, the Amerian, the Syrian, the Honey-apple and the Cydonian (of which there are three kinds, the Sparrow-apple, the Golden apple and the Must-apple). All these cause not only pleasure but also good health.”

End quote.

We also find apples being mentioned in a book attributed to an author named Apicius and entitled, “De re Coquinaria” and translated as “Cooking and Dining in Imperial Rome.” My favorite is a dish called, “Minutal Matianum,” which include pork shoulder and a Matian apple, among others.

The Matian apple is supposedly named after a knight and cookbook author named Caius Mautius, who apparently, was also a favorite of Emperor Augustus – an ahhh . . . an APPLE OF HIS EYE, even.

Not good.

AS:

[Laughter]

SM:

Not good. Anyway.

I’m not sure but this may be the first time that pork and apples have been mentioned in the same recipe. It is still something that I love now. A juicy pork chop or roast pork cooked with a sauce of the apples, sugar and a tiny bit of calvados, which is a French apple brandy. I may have to make this again soon.

Talking of calvados, the Romans also drank an alcoholic apple drink – cider. The name, “cider,” has an interesting etymology. According to our chums at Merriam-Webster, it is believed to have originated from the Hebrew word, shākhar, which translates to quote, “become drunk,” end quote. From there, it became the Greek or Septuagint word, síkera. Then, in Latin, it became sīcera or quote, “alcoholic drink,” end quote. In Gallo-Romance languages, it became *cīsera. Then, in Anglo-French, it became sizre, ciser, or cydre. Finally, in Middle English it became sider with an “s,” sedyr with an “s,” cidre with a “c,” or quote, “alcoholic drink (in Biblical translations and references), cider,” end quote, before being the word we use today.

Back to its history. Smithsonian Magazine notes,

Quote

“What is clear about cider is that once the drink caught on, it spread fast.”

End quote.

By the time that the Roman general Julius Ceasar conquered Britain around 55 BCE, him and his army found the British drinking a cider like drink. They soon spread it across Europe and to the rest of the Roman Empire.

When the Western Roman Empire began to fail around 476 CE, the orchards created by the Roman settlers in Britain began to become unused. It was not until the 11th century – when Britain was conquered by the Norman invaders led by William the Conqueror – that they brought the fondness of apples, and particularly Normandy cider, back with them.

By the 13th century in England, farm worker wages included a cider allowance. By the 18th century, the port of Exeter, located in the southwest of England, exported between one and two million gallons of apple cider.

And by the 20th century, apples have become very popular in Britain. Britons cooked apples with wonderful names such as “Flower of Kent,” “Bramley’s Seedling,” and eating apples such as “Cox’s Orange Pippin.”

There are many stories about apples in British folk lore. But I wanted to stick to two of my favorites given that we have a lot to get on to. One of my first memories was “Bobbing for Apples.”

For those of you who don’t know, “Bobbing for Apples” is, as Readers Digest puts it, a game where one would

Quote

“Fill a large bucket or basin with water. Put apples in the water (since apples are less dense than water, they’ll float at the top). Have players try to get as many apples as possible only using their teeth—no hands!”

End quote.

Also, fun fact, according to the University of Vermont, apples float to the top because they are around 25% air. Hmm.

Anyway. Now, it is a game usually played around Halloween.

In the days of the ancient Celts, there was a festival called, “Samhain,” spelled S A M H A I N, which is a Gaelic word that is pronounced sow-win, and that went from October the 31st to November the first. It celebrated the harvest, and when the days got shorter and darker.

After the Roman Empire expanded into Celtic lands in 43 CE, the Romans began to celebrate Samhain with Roman traditions. In late October, Romans honored the dead, and also honored Pomona, the goddess of fruit and trees whose symbol was the apple. Because Samhain and these Roman festivities happened at around the same time, integrating the harvest celebrations of Samhain with the Roman traditions likely led to the connection of bobbing for apples – in honor of Pomona – during the time to honor the dead.

The connection strengthened during the papacy of Gregory I from 590 CE to 604 CE, when he combined non-Christian religious traditions with Christian traditions. He declared November the 1st as “All Saints’ Day” or Alholowmesse in Middle English to honor the saints, and November the 2nd as “All Souls’ Day.”

“All Hallows Eve” or Halloween, as people now tend to call it, was the day when some of the games from the time of the “Samhain” period stayed in fashion.

I have to say that I was a bit of a champion in our family when it came to “Bobbing for apples.”

The other story is one that I am sure most people will know and that is the tale of Isaac Newton.

Isaac Newton was born in 1642 near Grantham, in the Lincolnshire county of Great Britain to a farming family. By 1661, he was at Cambridge University but had to come back to his family home, Woolsthorpe Manor, because of an outbreak of bubonic plague at the university.

The story goes that, while he was sitting under an apple tree in the Manor’s orchard, he saw an apple fall from a branch to the ground. We have no proof that the apple actually hit him on the head, but that’s a good story. What it supposedly did was inspire him to think about the nature of gravity.

The apple falling led to the 1687 publication of Newton’s theory on gravity in a book called, “Principia,” which history.com says

Quote

“every body in the universe is attracted to every other body with a force that is directly proportional to the product of their masses and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between them.”

End quote.

In 1726, Newton told this story to writer William Stukeley who then put it in his work called, “Memoirs of Sir Isaac Newton’s Life.” Stukeley wrote that Newton

Quote

“was just in the same situation, as when formerly, the notion of gravitation came into his mind. ‘why should that apple always descend perpendicularly to the ground,’ thought he to him self: occasion'd by the fall of an apple, as he sat in a contemplative mood.”

End quote.

And the story became part of Newton’s folk lore.

And, if one goes to Newton’s Manor, Woolsthorpe Manor, as I have, you can still see the tree under which he sat. Or so it is believed. As the organization that looks after the tree declares,

Quote

“This is the very tree from which an apple fell. . . The tree first put down roots around 400 years ago and people have travelled to visit it as Newton's apple tree for at least 240 years.”

End quote.

And for the record, the Newton’s apple was a variety known as the “Flower of Kent.”

From Britain, let’s move to the other side of the planet – to China and India. After all, as Nicola Davis puts it in her article in The Guardian,

Quote

“the apple’s journey was far from one-way.”

End quote.

Not only did the apple go west from Kazakhstan to Europe, but it also went east from Kazakhstan to China. These wild apples from Kazakhstan hybridized with other wild apples that resulted in a softer, sweeter fruit that became the Chinese dessert apples.

They’re certainly A-PEELing. Oh no, I think we’ve done that before. Anyway.

The apple is believed to have arrived in the Kullu Valley of India via the British around 1865. But the apple variety they brought was unsuccessful.

The apple in India would make a successful return when the “Delicious” apple variety arrived. The Delicious apple arrived in the Shimla hills of the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh in 1916. And the person who brought Delicious with him? An American gentleman from Philadelphia called Samuel Evans Stokes. According to Asha Sharma, Stokes’ granddaughter and author of his biography, “An American in Ghandi’s Land,” he

Quote

“belonged to a very distinguished family of Quaker heritage.”

End quote.

He came to India in 1904 as a young 20-year old to dedicate himself to working in a leper colony in the Himalayan foothills. After his arrival, he saw the poverty in the area. That’s when he decided to bring apple seeds from Philly to the hills of Shimla.

As Sharma says

Quote

“He distributed them [the apple seeds] free to the local people and helped them to plant and nurture them. That was a start of an economic revolution in that area.”

End quote.

Soon Stokes became known as quote, “the Johnny Appleseed of the Himalayas,” end quote. I will talk about Johnny Appleseed in a moment, but, I would imagine this would be a great honor for Stokes.

He became known in India not only for the supply of apples but also for advocating for India’s independence, where he later became friends with Mahatma Gandhi.

As Sharma puts it, Stokes was a

Quote

“champion of freedom and equality and, of course, as the man who introduced the American Delicious apple.”

End quote.

Now that we have mentioned Johnny Appleseed, let’s talk about the apples coming to America.

According to the North Carolina Historic Sites, French Jesuits first brought apples in what would become the United Sates of America in the late 1500s. Pilgrims also brought apples with them in 1620.

Author Michael Pollan explained

Quote

“The apples that they planted from trees, the grafted trees that the colonists brought over, just did really badly. They were not well adapted to the harsh American environment. But then they also planted, you know, the apples that they were eating on the boat. They saved the seed and planted those. And what happens when you plant apples from seed is you get all different kinds of apples. Every single seed in an apple produces a different variety, most of which are useless. However, apples grown from seed are perfectly good for making cider.”

End quote.

The colonists used to drink cider because it was safer than boiling water. And that is when Johnny Appleseed came into the story.

Born on September the 26th, 1774 in Leominster, Massachusetts, he was given the name John Chapman. His father, Nathaniel, was a farmer and wanted John to work in orchards. By 1798, John had established his first apple nursery.

By 1812, he worked in orchards and nurseries. He traveled around Pennsylvania and Ohio planting apple orchards. He would then return to the orchards a few years later and sell off the orchards to folks of the area. By planting apple orchards, not only did John get to plant apples, but his act of planting orchards allowed him to make a legal claim of ownership on that land. Which is genius. By the way, his activities, shall we say, meant that, in his lifetime, he ended up acquiring 1,200 acres of land.

Anyway. The apples he grew on these orchards were not apples that you would eat by themselves. They were apples that were suitable for cider making and Applejack. For those of you who are not aware of Applejack, it is a form of apple brandy traditionally made by freezing the hard apple cider then taking out the ice. You can still buy it today and perhaps the most famous is produced by a company called, “Laird’s & Co.” And, I have to say that I do love it. So, give it a try.

John Chapman died in, it is believed, March 1845, although the date is in some doubt. We do know, however, that he died in Fort Wayne, Indiana.

After his death, the story of “Johnny Appleseed” began to be formed. While the media mostly portrayed Johnny Appleseed as a benevolent apple planter, as you now know, the real person behind the media portrayal was an innovative businessman who earned profits by staking claim to frontier land, and selling said land with an apple orchard that is set up for buyers to make their own hard apple cider. He is a HARDCORE apple businessman.

AS:

[Laughter]

SM:

Uh.

Another American trailblazer in the apple world is a gentleman named Jesse Hiatt who was originally from Indiana. He grew up in a Quaker and farming family. In 1855, Jesse, his wife, and his children moved to Peru, Iowa. He planted an orchard with various apple varieties in his new home. In 1872, he found a sprout in a space where an old apple variety had died. He left it to grow for 10 years and found it produced a nice smelling apple. According to a newspaper article from 1923,

Quote

“The flavor, like the aroma, was delicious. The apple tasted like no other apple that he had eaten.”

End quote.

He named his apple, “Hawkeye,” after his new home state of Iowa, and took it to various local fairs. In 1894, he finally sold his apple to C.M. Stark of Stark Brothers Nursery from Louisiana, Missouri after Stark tasted the apple and declared it

Quote

“Delicious.”

End quote.

Stark renamed the apple, “Delicious,” which was later renamed “Red Delicious.” And for more than 50 years, the Red Delicious apple became the most grown apple variety in the United States. These days, that honor goes to the Gala apple.

Now, before I go, I wanted to look at some of the sayings and stories that have been using the apple as their basis. So, why don’t we start with one that is, well, as American as apple pie. Where does that saying come from?

Well, in fact, the first known apple pie was created in England in 1381. Hurrah. It also called for other ingredients such as figs and raisins.  The Dutch also had recipes for apple pie that date back to 1514.

When the British colonists first arrived in what would be the USA, they distinguished themselves from their countrymen back in Britain by baking pies instead of scones and cakes, and filled the pies with abundant apples. And in 1796, Amelia Simmons published the first cookbook in the USA called, “American Cookery.” That cookbook included a recipe for apple pie.

In 1892, Rudyard Kipling, the British author of the book, “The Jungle Book,” declared that the American Northeast was

Quote

“the great American pie belt.”

End quote.

A newspaper also said in 1895

Quote

“Every American is born with an appetite for pie. . . [and an immigrant’s] Americanism, in fact, may be tested in his taste for pie.”

End quote.

And in 1902, the New York Times declared that pie became

Quote

“the American synonym for prosperity.”

End quote.

And in 1924, an advertisement in the Gettysburg Times for men’s suits finally coined the phrase when it said its suits

Quote

“are as American as apple pie.”

End quote.

Then, in World War II, soldiers were known to say that they were fighting for

Quote

“Mom and Apple Pie.”

End quote.

Now, of course, it has taken on the meaning that it represents,

Quote

“the best of American culture.”

End quote.

So, let’s finish with a few others.

Where does the phrase, “the apple of my eye,” come from? This is a phrase that denotes someone who is well loved by the person who sees them. For example, “My wife is the apple of my eye.”

According to author Richard Noble, the phrase appears in the Bible but the apple refers to the eye’s pupils.

It is also used in the reign of King Alfred the Great in 885 CE in a work attributed to him called, “Gregory’s Pastoral Care.”

Perhaps the most recognized is when it is used by William Shakespeare in his 1594 play, “A Mid-Summer Nights Dream,” where he writes

Quote

“Hit with Cupid's archery, Sink in apple of his eye.”

End quote.

Where does the phrase, “An apple a day keep the doctor away,” come from?

Apparently, this phrase originated from my mother’s home country of Wales when it appeared in an 1866 paper called, “Notes & Queries.” It says,

Quote

“A Pembrokeshire proverb: Eat an apple on going to bed, And you’ll keep the doctor from earning his bread.”

End quote.

As time went on, this became shortened and the phrase we know today was born. So, there you go.

Now, where does the term, “The Big Apple,” for talking about New York come from?

It comes from the 1920s where a journalist called John Fitz Gerald heard African American employees who worked in the New Orleans race tracks talking about going to “the big apple,” meaning New York. He began to put this in his newspaper articles to promote New York and it got picked up by Jazz musicians as a way of describing New York’s big music clubs.

It then went out of use, but became popular again in the 1970s when Charles Gillett, president of the New York Convention and Visitors Bureau, used it as a tourism campaign to attract tourists to visit New York at a time when the city had a reputation for crime. And as History.com says

Quote

“Pins, T-shirts and other promotional items featuring apples soon proliferated. . . this time around, the name stuck.”

End quote.

Again, there you have it.

And, finally, let’s talk about why the apple has been referred to as “the forbidden fruit.” It starts with the first book of the Bible or Torah, Genesis, and the story of God forbidding Adam and Eve from eating a particular fruit in the middle of the garden. The New International Version of Genesis Chapter 3, verse 6 says,

Quote

“When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.”

End quote.

In this passage, the fruit has not yet been identified, yet, it seems that the apple has been labeled as the forbidden fruit. But, according to many scholars, both Jewish and Christian faiths, the apple gets a “bad rap.”

The confusion might stem from a pun in Latin. The Hebrew Bible used the word “peri” or fruit in the passage. But when it came time to translating the Bible to Latin, the 4th century CE translator, Jerome, translated the Hebrew word “peri” or fruit, into the Latin word “malus,” which meant both bad or evil, and also meant apple. Hmm.

To add to the confusion, when John Milton wrote his 17th century book, “Paradise Lost,” he called the fruit “apple.” But remember, as I said, before the 17th century, people used the term, “apple,” to refer to all fruits except for berries, and nuts. So, Milton probably did not mean to refer to the “apple” as how we would use it today.

So, in summary, the apple is not a bad thing or a forbidden thing in terms of religion or literature. So, HOW DO YOU LIKE THEM APPLES?

Who would have thought that the humble apple could have such a fascinating history?

And now its time to go and have some beautiful roast pork with some applesauce followed by a great apple pie with some vanilla ice cream. Mmmm. Mmmm. Mmmm.

See you next week folks.

OUTRO MUSIC

SM:

Make sure to check out the website associated with this podcast at www.EatMyGlobe.com where we will be posting the transcripts from each episode, along with all the references and resources we used putting the episodes together, in case you want to delve deeper into each subject. There is also a contact button, so please do let us know if there are any subjects that you would like us to cover.

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Thank you and goodbye from me, Simon Majumdar, we’ll speak to you soon on the next episode of EAT MY GLOBE: Things You Didn’t Know You Didn’t Know About Food.

CREDITS

The EAT MY GLOBE Podcast is a production of “It’s Not Much But It’s Ours” and “Producer Girl Productions.”

[Ring sound]

We would also like to thank Sybil Villanueva for all of her help both with the editing of the transcripts and her essential help with the research.