What are my special features?
The Saltcote Pippin is a dessert apple with a fascinating skin texture which resembles finely hand-beaten copper due to the minute ‘dimples’ on the surface. It has a flushed colour, remarkable flavour and superb keeping qualities. The flavour of the Saltcote Pippin has notes of honey, grapefruit and cinnamon dissolving to ripe melon. Its cidery finish pairs well with Cheddar or Comte style cheeses, flavours are intensified by baking and its texture stays firm.
The Saltcote Pippin tree bears large fruits which are renowned for their rich aromatic taste, firm and juicy texture. Picked from early October and eaten from November to January, it is a really useful late-keeping apple variety, in fact the apples store until March.
What is my history?
The Saltcote Pippin is an apple from the county of Sussex. It is called Saltcote because the Rother River near Rye is tidal and had numerous salt pans along it. A ‘salt cote’ was a barn where the dried salt would be stored.
A ‘pippin’ is an apple that is raised from seed. Apple seeds do not necessarily reflect the character of the parent tree, so a ‘pippin’ or a ‘seedling’ describes a new variety that emerged. The Saltcote Pippin tree has been grafted several times and there are only a few known young trees currently producing. Samplings of the fruit are being sent to the Royal Horticultural Society.
Why am I forgotten?
The Saltcote Pippin was initially a commercial success but the increase in apple imports from South Africa and Australia greatly reduced the market for such keeper varieties.
Don’t lose me… cook me!
