【DRESS THE FOOD】 りんごの紅葉パイ

※ English follows after Japanese.

りんごの紅葉パイ

果物の中でどれが一番好きかと聞かれたら、絶対に最初には頭に浮かばないのに、旬の季節になると 「やっぱり、いいなぁー」 と昨シーズンの感動を再発見する旅が始まる、それはりんご。

スーパーにだだっと並んでいるのを見るとついつい無作為に手に取りがちではあるけれど、りんごひとつひとつの形や皮に注目してみると意外と個性豊かで、心を込めて選ぶ気にさせられる。

皮のグラデーションなんかは紅葉のゆるやかなグラデーションに似ているなとも思う。旬が重なるもの同士だからこそ感じるシナジー的なものだろうか。

日本のりんごと言えばふじが代表的だけれど、近年次々と新しい品種が登場して目移りしてしまう。わたしの好みはパリッとしていて酸味が強めな秋映や春明、それからここ数年で日本産も見かけるようになったグラニースミスもお気に入りのひとつだ。

グラニースミスと言えばアメリカに住んでいた幼少期、通っていたシカゴの小学校では時折、学校の入り口でトフィーアップルというあまーいキャラメル（トフィー）でコーティングされた串刺しの丸ごとのりんごを使ったおやつが販売されていたのを思い出した。

劇的に甘いキャラメルと極端なバランスをとるように、トフィーアップルには必ず酸味の強いグラニースミスが使われていた。そのバランスが当時の私にとってはショッキング（混乱）

と同時にエキサイティングだったようで、今でもアメリカのアイコニックなおやつの思い出として深く記憶に残っている。といっても、キャラメルは歯にくっつくし、どう考えても甘すぎるのでいくらりんごを丸ごと使っているとはいえ子供にとって健康的なおやつとは言い難い。母は時々、ちょっと特別な理由をつけて買ってくれたように思う。

グラニースミスには日本でなかなか遭遇しないけれど、紅玉がそれに近しい存在かなと思う。酸味だけでなく独特の芳醇な香りと、深いルージュ色の皮が心をときめかせるようなりんごだ。そんな紅玉を使って作りたいのはやはりアップルパイ。大人になったわたしはトフィーアップルから卒業し（でもいつかまた食べたい）、紅葉のようなアップルパイを食べたいなと思う。旬のりんごは手間をかけずとも最高のデザートになる。

旬の酸味が強めのりんごを３種類（できれば色が異なるもの）用意し、半分に切ったりんごの芯を除き５mm幅の半月切りにする。オーブンシートにクッキングペーパーを敷き、冷凍パイシート（縦横おおよそ 20cm×30cm くらいになるように必要な枚数分）を並べる。パイの四辺に、端から 2cmのふちを残してフォークで全体に穴をあける。2cmのふちには溶いた卵をはけなどで塗り、きび糖をたっぷりめにかける。シナモン小さじ1/2ときび糖大さじ１を混ぜたものを、ふちを除いたパイ生地全体に均一にかける。ふちをさけるようにして、スライスしたりんごを少しずつずらして重なるようにのせる。190度のオーブンで 30分前後焼いたらりんごに溶かしたアプリコットジャムを塗りつけ、紅葉色のりんごパイのできあがり。バニラアイスクリームを添え、合わせて食べるとトフィーアップルほど強烈ではない、酸味と甘みの絶妙なバランスを楽しめておすすめ。

さて、２年間続いた連載も今回で最終回。連載を振り返るとコロナ以前とコロナ以降ではだいぶ食材へのアプローチが変わったように感じる。家で過ごす時間が増えた中で、わたしにとって最も大きかった発見は日常の中のふとした瞬間に触れる、食材への魅力だ。それは大体の場合、お料理をしている最中に見つかることが多い。例えば冬の柔らかい光の中で剥いた玉ねぎの皮がツヤツヤしていたり、真夏の太陽の元で切ったトマトの断面がきらりとしたり、茹でているそら豆がお鍋の中で可愛く踊っていたり、丸ごとのカリフラワーがシャンプーハットに見えたり。そんな瞬間を見つけると、以前にも増して夢中で写真を撮るようになった。

お料理はどうしても、完成形を目指して一生懸命に作ってしまうけれど、日常の忙しさの中でも少しだけ、作る過程にも注目してみると食べた時の味わいだけでない、自分だけの楽しみも見つかる気がする。

２年間ご愛読くださった皆さま、ありがとうございました。このようなプラットフォームの中で創作し、皆さまと繋がれたことに大変感謝しております。またどこかでお会いできますように。

Autumn leaves colored apple pie

If someone asked me what my most favorite fruit is, it would probably not be the first thing that would come to my mind, but when their season comes, they make me think “Gosh, I love them.” and takes me to a journey to remind myself how much I loved them last season. They are, of course, apples.

When you see them piled up in grocery stores, you might want to randomly grab one, but when you pay close attention to their shapes and skins, you will find how quite unique they are in their own ways, and will probably make you want to choose the most special one sincerely from your my heart.

The gradient on the apple’s skin reminds me of autumn leaves changing their colors. It might be like a synergy that I am feeling because of their peak season overlapping each other.

When it comes to Japanese apples, I think we can all agree that Fuji is the most popular, but these few years there have been many new kinds emerging and I’m always tempted to try those. I love harder, sour apples like Akibae and ShunMei and Granny Smith (which have been produced more in Japan these few years).

Granny Smith reminds me of a snack called toffee apple, which was a skewered apple that was coated with extremely sweet caramel (toffee). They were sometimes sold at the entrance of the elementary school (I don’t remember why they were sold or how frequent it was) I used to go as a child in Chicago, USA.

To balance the extremely sweet caramel, Granny Smiths were used for those toffee apples because of their sourness. It seemed to me, that that combination was rather shocking (and confusing) and exciting at the same time, which might be one of the reasons why I remember toffee apples to be one of the most iconic American snacks, deep in my memories. Although, that caramel always stuck between my teeth and no matter how much I try to justify them, they were way too sweet. So I wouldn’t say that they were the healthiest snacks for children, despite the fact that they used whole apples. I remember vaguely, that my mother used to buy those for me on special occasions.

It is still very hard to come by Granny Smiths in Japan, but I’d say Kogyoku has a pretty similar flavor. Not only is it sour, but also has unique rich fragrance and its deep rouge color skin is a heartthrob. Using this Kogyoku, I am determined to bake an apple pie. I’ve grown out of toffee apples now (although I’d love to try them sometime in the future) and would love to enjoy apple pies that look like autumn leaves. When you get your hands on apples that are in their peak, there is only so much you need to do to turn them into the most incredible dessert.

Get your hands on three different kinds of sour apples that are in their peak (different colors too if possible). Cut them in half and remove the core, then cut them into 5mm half moon shaped slices. Put parchment paper on an oven sheet and align frozen pie sheets (to make 20cm × 30cm size, use as many as you need). Leaving 2cm width of the four edges, prick the pie sheet all over using a fork. Brush egg wash on the 2cm edges using a brush and add a generous amount of cane sugar on top. Mix a half teaspoon of cinnamon and one tablespoon of cane sugar, and scatter it equally on the pie except for the edges. Put the sliced apples on top, avoiding the edges, slightly sliding them from each other. Bake the pie in a 190℃ oven for about 30 minutes and brush melted apricot jam on the apples. There you have it, autumn leaf-colored apple pie all ready to go. Put a scoop of vanilla ice cream on the side along with a sprinkle of cinnamon and you will enjoy the fun contrast of sweet and sour flavor, not as extreme as toffee apples, but highly recommended.

So here we are. The very last episode of my serial article I have been working on for the past two years. Looking back on my works, I realized that I started taking different approach on food after the Covid pandemic. Spending a lot of time at home, my biggest discovery was the little moments of charm that all the ingredients and food I come head to head with have, in my every day life. I usually come across this attraction while I cook. For example, the peeled skin of onions shinning under the soft winter light, or the cut surface of a tomato glittering under the strong summer sun shine, or the fava beans dancing pretty in the pot while being boiled, or the whole cauliflower looking like a shower-cap. When I come across those moments, I shoot photographs so passionately more than ever.

When it comes to cooking, we tend to focus on how the dish would come out at the very end, but if you pay a little bit of attention to the process while you cook, you may come to find your own special way of appreciating food that goes beyond just tasting it.

Thank you all so much for reading my articles for the past two years. I am very grateful to have had this platform to create and to connect with you. Looking forward to seeing you again somewhere, sometime not so far in the future.