24 FRUIT RECIPES 



delicacy of beauty ; none which even approaches its magi- 

 cal perfume and charm save the sweet olive {Olea frag- 

 rans). It is sufficient in its marvellous witchery to cap- 

 tivate and inspire rhapsody in the most practical^-in even 

 unimaginative, primeval man. And so, to its possession 

 of unusual virtues and beauty has been added (happily, 

 save in the instance of Adam) the appreciation of men; 

 therefore the preeminence of the apple. 



This first of fruits is known in Arabia and other southern 

 countries but is essentially a product of the colder, more 

 bracing climes; one fitted by its combination of refreshing 

 acids, substantial bulk and stimulating juice, its possi- 

 bilities in natural or (whether cooked or dried) preserved 

 state, as food or drink, to give in such latitudes just that 

 degree of comfort to man's physical organism, material for 

 the playful exercise of the intellect and innocent revel of the 

 aesthetic senses which are required for complete human en- 

 joyment. It is concentrated power which may be applied 

 toward the establishment and preservation of health; a 

 dynamo possessing and giving out in its flavour, texture, 

 and its action upon the body that vigorous poise neces- 

 sary to offset any possible ill effects from long continued 

 seasons of cold, when the earth rests and humanity is 

 prone to become careless and let the blood and liver grow 

 sluggish. 



The juice of the apple combines extremes; the sparkle 

 of sunshine and the sparkle of frost-time, the sun's glow 

 laughing out in the working warmth of winter cider, the 

 frost-touch cooling the blood in the seasons of the sun. 

 Joel Benton claimed that "the apple bears a very pertinent 

 relation to the brain, stimulating life and activity, which 

 it does by its immense endowment of phosphorus, in which 

 element it is said to be richer than anything in the vege- 

 table kingdom." Even though the value or proportion 



