Cooking Apples

Does anywhere know if Bramley (Cooking) Apples are usually available in France? I can't find them anywhere. (Are they not in season perhaps?)

We brought a Bramley tree (sapling) from England -- the apples are still on the small size - so the tip about the Canadian apples was a real find! Thanks!! -- I just finished a GREAT baked apple & ice cream!

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You probably have all the information you need but just to throw my twopenneth, if buying I use Granny Smiths because they have a high level of acidity like the good old bramley (I found the Canada's too sweet) and they collapse unlike the ones used for tarts. However a neighbour gives me apples from their garden and they are fantastic (unfortunately no one knows the name of the variety!) so don't ignore local varieties.

Thank you very much, Mary, Bryan, Maria, Susan and Brian, you've been really helpful! I will try Canada Gris or Braeburns then. I need some to go in my homemade mincemeat, and it's good to know for the future, which ones are best for putting in crumbles and pies.

Thanks again :-)

Canada Gris, properly Reinette Grise du Canada, are more like Egremont Russets which are a dessert apple in the UK but are indeed used for French apple dishes. They do not make the kind of firmer filling typical of English apples dishes and fillings though.

Braeburn apples which are a cultivar of good old Granny Smiths are as close as you will get. Bramleys are not generally exported from England. I brought in a Bramley tree for the apples, but as yet the fruit is about the size of a golf ball and there were only two this year (better than my two Russets that had none). The booklet the nursery put in with the tree says that Bramley's are almost exclusively grown in England, there are a few in Canada, Scotland, USA and Armagh Bramleys in Ireland that are a protected subspecies under EU regulations. The chances of getting them here, only slightly above zero.

I 've never seen bramley apples here but as Maria said earlier canada apples are good cooking apples. I often use goldens myself.

it is very unlikely you will find them in any rural france shop alas they are more a british product there are other types available but for the life of me i cant remember their names,but most apples will cook down for pies etc they will be sweeter but just add some lemon juice to tart them up

I haven’t seen them in Pau (in the SouthWest) sorry. Is there a substitute French apple you can use?

Yes, they are available in many stores from Lidl upwards. They are called pomme a cuire. Cooking apples. There is an accent on the “a” which I don’t know how to type…

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Ă  is Alt-133

Hi @TonyL and Welcome to the forum…

You’ve commented on a 10 year old thread… but thanks for the info… :+1: :+1:
I must check in Lidl next time…

Hi Stella,
I’m not really into forum (or rather fora) and things…in fact I just joined Survive France tonight for the first time. I made our family’s Christmas Pudding today and used cooking apples. This led to a conversation with an English neighbour who was astounded that I had bought cooking apples in France. So I googled and saw you10 year old message…the rest is history…

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Over the Yuletide, I generally prune a few trees for people. One of the trees is a Bramley. So if any of you would like me to send a handful of Bramley scions for grafting later on in the Spring, just let me know before Christmas.

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What a nice thought. I tried with our cat’s head apple last year with no success. As it was so cold here I put them in the fridge, and perhaps that wasn’t the right thing to do?

(Equally if anyone want”s Cat’s Head scions - an apple also useful for cooking- then happy to supply)

To keep them warm??? :slight_smile:

Yes!!

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