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History of Bramley Apples
Go to: Main History Index Page | History of World Cuisines | Origins of Ingredients
Bramley Apples are widely considered to be the cook's choice for cooking apples and have become one of the most popular cooking apples used in the UK, available to buy all year. They have a tart flavour which is generally not suitable to eat raw plus the added bonus of an excellent texture when cooked.
The Bramley apple hails from Nottinghamshire UK. A young girl called Mary Ann Brailsford who lived in Southwell, Nottinghamshire is believed to have sown some apple pips in her garden between 1809 and 1813 one of which which grew into the first Bramley apple tree. Unfortunately, it isn't known from where she got the original pips, however the nature of sowing seed from fruit is that they often don't mirror the original plant so it is safe to say that the original fruit from where she took the pip bore little resemblance to today's Bramleys.
By 1837 the tree was bearing its first fruit and in 1846 Matthew Bramley, a local butcher, bought the cottage complete with garden and tree. It was whilst he was there that a local nurseryman called Henry Merryweather recognised the commercial potential of the fruit and asked if he could take cuttings from the tree which would reproduce true to type specimens. Mr Bramley agreed, with the proviso that the apples should be named after him.
Apparently, the original tree is
still bearing fruit today.
Bramley Apple Recipes
Below are a few sweet and savoury recipes using cooking apples. To find more use the search page and type in "cooking apples".
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