Where on earth did this phrase come from? Apple Orchard owners? Really proud Apple Cider makers? Apple thieves? (aka ‘Apple Scrumpers’ in the UK – and as a side note on that, apparently, if you’re outside the UK, scrumping has a very different and slightly saucy meaning, so maybe I should proceed with caution – if you ask someone to go scrumping with you, you might get invited in for more than apple crumble! Oh la la)
Anyway, “How do you like them apples” is an expression that is said to have originated during the first World War, when the Allies’ anti-tank grenade was colloquially called a ‘toffee apple’ because it looked like an apple on a stick. The language used in the trenches was often brutal so this phrase seems a little more jovial than we’d expect doesn’t it.
While we’re talking about language and apples, ‘Apple’ used to be the generic Old English word for almost all fruit. So a plum was an apple, a pear was and apple, you get the idea.
Of course, way back then it was spelled A-E-P-E-L.
To get specific, (and these aren’t my words obviously, they’re from etymonline.com) – Old English æppel from Proto-Germanic *ap(a)laz, (also of Old Saxon, Old Frisian, Dutch appel, Old Norse eple, Old High German apful, German Apfel), from PIE *ab(e)l- “apple” (source also of Gaulish avallo “fruit;” Old Irish ubull, Lithuanian obuolys, Old Church Slavonic jabloko “apple”)
There you have it!
And if you speak French, you can still see this word’s history in the names of many fruits and veggies today – think ‘pomme de terre’ (literally apple of the earth/ground)
Apple Country
As you probably already know, Le Pressoir is in Calvados, Normandy, now that’s serious Apple Country – from our own 4 organic apple trees in our small orchard to the many impressive cider apple orchards that are dotted around us… and now, also the home of a very exclusive Apple Museum.
Since the Middle Ages, Normandy has been the Orchard of France and about 800 varieties of apple are grown and used here.
According to legend, Basque sailors first brought apple wine to Normandy in the 6th century, but the region’s apple cider was made fashionable by French royals, including the ‘Sun King’ Louis XIV, who is said to have liked it almost as much as he liked champagne. Then, in the mid-16th century, Gilles de Gouberville, the son of a local lord, distilled cider to create Normandy’s first apple brandy but it only gained it’s definitive name after the French Revolution, when this region was renamed Calvados.
Apples straight from the tree – servez vous
When they’re in season, you can wander the few steps from our gites into the orchard and pick the apples straight off the tree if you wish, however, we also pick them and leave a basket by the pool every day so you don’t even have to walk that far.
Apple Cider Tours & Tastings
Ferme de la Sapinière
Just 10 minutes from Le Pressoir you’ll find apples galore at the fantastic Ferme de la Sapinière.
This is our nearest Apple Cider Tour and Tasting Farm and we highly recommend the tour. We’ve taken the tour and it was fascinating and great fun – especially the tasting bit at the end of the tour!
During the tour, you’ll learn all about apples and how they can be transformed in a variety of ways into a wide range of delicious produce: Juice, Cider, Aperitifs, Pommeau, Calvados, and Apple Cider Vinegar.
The tour lasts about an hour and you’ll see some of the orchards, the machinery necessary for the production process – washer, sorting table, press, labelling machine. You’ll discover the different stages of production – pressing, primary and secondary fermentation, distillation, labelling and ageing in casks.
The tour concludes with a tasting of a selection of the apple products. An alcohol-free option is available with a tasting of their different delicious juices.
The family-owned farm has been the home of seven generations of dairy, and now cider, farmers.
It’s located less than a kilometre away from the sea at Omaha Beach. The orchards benefit from this coastal climate and the conditions influence the organoleptic properties of the apples.
They make between 80,000 and 100,000 bottles each year of juice, cider, aperitifs and of course the famous Calvados that bears the name of the region.
They say
“Responsible farming was always a priority in order to be respectful of our local biodiversity. It is why we transitioned to organic farming and all of our orchards have been certified organic”
“Throughout the years, we have crafted different cuvées of cider, ranging from our classic and traditional cider to more original creations. All of our ciders go through a natural secondary fermentation in the bottle”
We say
“How do you like them apples?”
Check out their website – https://www.producteur-cidre.com/index-en.php
There are several other Cider farms in the region that do tours and tasting so you’ll be spoilt for choice –
Apple Brandy Experience
The Calvados Père Magloire L’Experience provides an immersive, multi-sensory experience for old and young alike, aimed at sharing the great story of Calvados and how the spirit has evolved over the years from being enjoyed in Normandy alone to becoming an internationally known tipple. Learn about Normandy apples, traditional production methods and the many varieties of calvados, before trying out a selection of different vintages (or apple juice for youngsters or those who don’t drink alcohol) in the tasting room.
Check out this little taster on film, it’s in French but you’ll get the flavour of this fantastic experience – https://vimeo.com/261688748
Apple Manoir
Located by the sea, Manoir d’Apreval is between Deauville and Honfleur.
In season you can help collect the apples, learn about the fermentation process and discover the secrets of producing good cider, all amid idyllic country surroundings. Like with all the others, at the end of your tour of the cider farm, sample some cider, pommeau and calvados (or apple juice).
Check out their website – https://www.apreval.com/en/home
Apple Cider Route
To the east of Caen, the Cider Route is a 25 mile signposted trail that meanders through the Pays d’Auge along picturesque country lanes connecting the villages of Beuvron-en-Auge (one of the ‘most beautiful villages in France’), Cambremer, Bonnebosq and Beaufour-Druval. Along the way, you have the choice of stopping off at over twenty cider farms!
Check out this link for all the delicious details of this amazing route through apple country – https://en.normandie-tourisme.fr/the-cider-route/
Apple Pie
What is the difference between French apple pie (tarte aux pommes) and regular apple pie?
Well, the short answer is the crust –
The British and American Apple Pie has the flaky pie crust on the bottom and the top.
The Dutch Apple Pie typically has a sweet crumbly topping.
And the French usually has exposed fruit with no top crust.
Vive la Difference.
You can buy the most heavenly Tarte aux Pommes from both Patisseries in our local village. Your tastebuds are in for a treat.
And for you language geeks, you’ll want to know if apple pie is feminine or masculine in French – the word for apple pie, ‘tarte aux pommes,’ is feminine singular, so the feminine singular definite article, ‘la’, is used.
And if you come to stay at Le Pressoir Rob may even be persuaded to make his delicious homemade salted caramel ice cream that you could spoon on top of your tarte aux pommes. It doesn’t get much better than that does it!
Apple Stories
Back when Le Pressoir was a farm the Press would have been filled with apples and a horse would have pulled the large wooden wheel around the circular trough where the apples would be the crushed into a pulp ready to make cider.
More recently I’ve written a children’s story about my childhood horse, Fury, in Fury and the Apple Tree where he goes on an adventure to a cider apple orchard and watches Mr Pippin pressing apples. You can see our old dog, funnily enough called Cider, in the last illustration.
The Big Apple – Apple Press and Popcorn
The Apple doesn’t fall far from the tree (and nor do the beams)….
Those of you who have enjoyed a stay at Le Pressoir over the years will have seen our ruin of an Apple Press – the Cider Press that we are named after… ‘Le Pressoir’ – (The Apple Press).
The first photo shows how it was when we bought Le Pressoir and then some of how it got worse before it got better.
When we realised this was going to take a bit more work than just sweeping up and dusting!
Well things have changed, the mud floor, collapsed beams and cracked wall have all had a facelift. It took Rob and Dave many, many, many months, weeks and hours of hard labour removing ruble, digging out the floor, laying a new floor, taking out rotten beams and replacing them with new (to us) oak beams and tidying up of the Press itself, plastering and painting walls.
Then I flounced in after all that hard work and added my finishing touch of some Art Deco furniture painting and creating something in the Apple Press – aka ‘zhuzhing’ (meaning – to make something more stylish, lively, or attractive) ha ha 😉 (more of that later)
We used to ask ourselves “What shall we do with the Press?”
We had plenty of ideas and suggestions from guests such as make it into a jacuzzi, a flower planter, a table etc but Rob had the great idea of making the room into a cinema so we can now host film nights for guests, they can have a drink from the Art Deco Bar and we’ll even supply the popcorn.
Only last night our guests asked if we could put the footie on the giant screen for them as England were playing in the Euros and naturally we said “bien sûr”
And my contribution to the Apple Press makeover? – as a designer I only ever had one idea for it… return it to being an Apple Press!!!!!
Having worked on Apple Macs for more years than I care to remember and having kept the old ones long after I’d upgraded to the newest model I thought that the Apple Press would make the perfect place to display all my old Apples… Voila, the Apple Press is now full of a different kind of apples from it’s heyday, as one of Apple’s own slogans used to say “Think Different”
Our very first, tiny beige Macintosh SE sits proudly in the middle of its more recent successors and they’re joined by our old iPhones, iPads, iPod Shuffles and iWatch.
It’s our very own Apple Museum.
Apple History
On 24 January 1984, a man called Steve Jobs got up on a stage and heaved a beige box out of a carrying case, shoved a floppy disc into it, and stood back. As the rousing theme from Chariots of Fire played, the word “Macintosh” swept across the tiny computer’s screen and a series of monochromatic images flashed up.
Compared to my current Macs, the tiny screen, boxy form and rudimentary graphics of that original Macintosh look ludicrously prehistoric but back then it started something very special.
The rest, they say, is history!
And we say
“How do you like them apples?”
