Welcoming a bounty of Golden Apples – THIS SITE HAS MOVED
THIS SITE HAS MOVED TO WWW.ISLANDLOVEGOURMET.COM
At 4 pm sometime in the late 80’s a little girl use to shout at her mother to get these beautiful tasty fruits to her just before Sesame Street started. The mother would peel a juicy half ripe apple and sprinkle a little salt on the outside and cut it in segments, place it in the bowl and give it to her daughter.
Biting into these apples channels me back to my childhood in Barbados. The sweet juicy apple and the slightly salty coating is a beautiful memory. I cannot begin to describe the taste of this fruit. It is not like anything that you tasted before if you live outside the Caribbean.( I saw the taste being compared to a mix of pineapple and mango) The green golden apple is hard eg raw potato hard. It is light and sweet and slightly tart. There is a prickly seed in the middle that use to punch my lips and gum as a child until I bled (I wanted to eat the seed and my mom let me).The pain was short-lived as the tasty apple made up for it.
The season for the fruit runs from November until January annually.The interior of the fruit has some fibres running through it. Like most Caribbean fruits it is very high in Vitamin C and other nutrients. It can be eaten green, ripe or half ripe. In the photo you can see the green one and half ripe ones. Children love this fruit and so do adults. The most common thing that is made with this fruit in Barbados is juice. The juice is sought after and some people said there is no other juice on this earth that can taste as good as this. I do not agree with these statements although the drink made from this is out of this world. In Trinidad and Tobago they do some more savory things with this apple and I wanted to try it for myself as it was just a bit out of the box for me as I was use to eating this fruit as is. They make golden apple chutney that is used to top Doubles and they also make a simple salad called Golden Apple Chow which is just piece of the fruit with garlic, cilantro salt and Caribbean pepper sauce. Now Trinis ( people from Trinidad and Tobago) are absolutely tolerant to peppers. Seriously, I watch them eat fries laced with pepper like if it is ketchup! This recipe had me worried slightly as I had to crack open my homemade bottle of Caribbean killer pepper sauce…I was not sure my husband would have eaten it but stick around you will see what happened. Back to my Trini friends. I read the blog called Simply Trini Cooking by Felix almost every week. It is not a vegan blog but he tends to do some vegan dishes and a some vegetarian ones.What I love about his blog is so many things. You can see that he loves his food. His cooking is no frills but the result is always beautiful and his blog is very simple and easy to follow plus, he is a big “peppermout”,his blog really showcases Trini foods in the big way that is is, he does step by step tutorials. His recipe for Pomme Cythere Chow caught my eyes a few weeks ago and I vowed to do it once I got some of the first golden apples from the tree outside. Click here to see the recipe for this
Golden Apple Chow
I made mine with a mixture of half ripe and green apples and the results were great. It was slightly strange eating garlic and sweet apples but it started to grow on me after a few pieces. The recipe was very strange for my husband who a. is not a big golden apple eater to begin with and b. it was the hottest thing I ever gave him to eat, but…there is a big BUTT. As killer spicy as this was he found it addictive and we almost ate this entire small bowl on the beach. The only pitfalls were the heat and trying to play beach tennis after eating this but for me it was so worth it.
So where can you get them outside of the Caribbean? Beats me! Lol but, I saw them in some Asian markets in Canada from time to time. Most golden apple trees are organic as you do not need to use anything on them to grow. Golden apples give body to fruit salads and imo would be a fruit that people would like.
The old Vegan In The Sun 
Neat! I wouldn’t even know that was an apple by its looks. I always see new (well, new to me at least) fruits at the Asian and Mexican markets here…but I’m scared to try them. I’ll have to look for these!
not the same family to english apples though. I am seeing all sorts of common names for it including Jewish plum. The scientific name provided is the right way to identify stuff
I love the green golden apples!!! Took them to the beach and ate them in the sea…yummy:) In Jamaica they refer to it as a plum..I think june plum…can’t remember the correct name now but whatever the name it is still a delicious fruit
I know people who eat mangoes in the sea as well to add salt to the fruit. People love to eat fruits in the sea in the Caribbean I realise. I never ate them in the sea but at the beach..The salt in the air still counts
Girl I am looking at that bowl of chow and my mouth is beginning to water. I like my pepper slight though. In Martinique they make a killer sorbet with it. I could eat that sorbet by the bucket.
June plum is the Jamaican name – Trinis call this pommecythere, which is of course golden apple!
Salivating over that chow, haven’t had a good chow in ages.
Strange that it took me so long to smell this chow. I see you didn’t forget the pepper. Good one Taymer thanks for the link 🙂
Easy Pomme Cythere Chow-add to the pieces of fruit Chadon Beni, Garlic, Raw Hotpepper, Salt and Lime Juice. Stir to mix thoroughly. Let it sit fro about 10-1 minutes for the ingredients to blend and infuse into the Pomme Cythere. Eat and enjoy-the spiciness will stimulate your taste buds.
Chutney was our favourite way in Barbados as a youth. Love them green or ripe.