Pen Vogler

The juicy history of the apple

Greeks, Romans, Norse and Celts all rooted their fertility myths in the apple – and through its association with the Garden of Eden it came to symbolise irresistible temptation

Picking tart apples – from Tacuinum Sanitatis, the medieval health handbook. [Getty Images] 
issue 17 August 2024
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  • The Apple: A Delicious History

    Sally Coulthard

    Apollo, pp. 368, £22

Pen Volger has narrated this article for you to listen to.

In Food for Life, Tim Spector’s book on the science of eating, the author gives the chemical makeup of a mystery food, listing more than 30 scary-sounding E numbers, sugars, acids and chemicals, before revealing that it is an… apple.

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