On Food and Cooking

that help control the alcoholic
fermentation and clarify the liquid
(tannins cross-link protein and cell-wall
particles and cause them to precipitate).
They’re used only in cider making.
Dessert or eating apples are crisp and
juicy, and have a pleasing balance
between sour and sweet when eaten raw
(pH 3.4, 15% sugar), but become
relatively bland when cooked. Most of
the apples in supermarkets and produce
markets are dessert apples.
Cooking apples are distinctly tart when
raw (a pH around 3 and sugar content
around 12%), well-balanced when
cooked, and have a firm flesh that tends
to maintain its structure when heated in
pies or tarts, rather than falling
immediately into a puree or — as in
some early “codling” varieties — into a
fluffy froth. Many countries have
traditionally had their standard cooking