Why is applesauce?
December 20, 2023 12:40 AM Subscribe
Applesauce (cooked down apples) seem to be very widely used in the US. What do people actually use it for? It seems to be tasty stuff, but it doesn't seem to me to have many applications outside (presumably) piemaking.
Little kids like it, and it’s a shelf-stable fruit if packaged, which is valuable. It’s also a great way to add texture, moisture, and flavor to baked goods. It used to be the go-to sauce for pork chops, and I expect some people still enjoy that.
posted by Countess Elena at 12:50 AM on December 20, 2023 [13 favorites]
posted by Countess Elena at 12:50 AM on December 20, 2023 [13 favorites]
People just eat it. Apples generally become ripe during a specific season, so it's a way of preserving apples. You can also swap out some amount of oil in baked goods for apple sauce, but that's not why it's on shelves.
posted by Spokane at 12:53 AM on December 20, 2023 [3 favorites]
posted by Spokane at 12:53 AM on December 20, 2023 [3 favorites]
My wife and I put up about 40 lbs of applesauce every late summer, when Gravenstien apples ripen near us. They’re a very poor-keeping apple but the flavor is fantastic and making applesauce is a great way to keep them throughout the year. We eat applesauce as a dessert with yogurt and a dash of cinnamon, and as an accompaniment to all sorts of dishes - roast potatoes, any kind of pork or sausages, beans and greens, onions and cabbage or slaw, cheeses, etc. Yeah, we just eat it, with a spoon, usually.
posted by niicholas at 1:11 AM on December 20, 2023 [7 favorites]
posted by niicholas at 1:11 AM on December 20, 2023 [7 favorites]
It's a way of getting some fruit into folks who have swallowing difficulties; it is frequently used as a medium for crushed up pills.
Plus it's kinda tasty and is a good option for lunches.
posted by mightshould at 1:13 AM on December 20, 2023 [4 favorites]
Plus it's kinda tasty and is a good option for lunches.
posted by mightshould at 1:13 AM on December 20, 2023 [4 favorites]
It is terrible in a pie. Too moist, makes the crust soggy, has no structure.
Apple sauce is good as a snack on its own if you are a minimalist and good to top with things like seeds and nuts or other fruit (often dried). Some people like to top oatmeal or other hot cereals with it. It is invaluable for vegan and low-allergen baking because it can replace eggs in many recipes.
Apart from the shelf stable cups in sack lunches when I was little, I was introduced to real applesauce as a kid for Chanukkah, because my mom would make it from scratch yearly to have with latkes. She would halve and core McIntosh apples, but not peel them, boil them in just a little water, and then run the whole pot through a food mill. The peels would neatly separate in the food mill but add lots of flavor and color to the sauce. She would portion this out into small amounts and freeze the lot, except for just enough to have with latkes a few times in the winter, and we would have enough for the whole year. Much tastier than the shelf stable stuff. We would add cinnamon if having some as a snack but with latkes we would have it plain, with sour cream as well.
Apple sauce is good with pork chops as mentioned above, and you can push it towards savory by adding herbs like sage and rosemary. Roasted apples are a nice combination with a lot of cold weather dishes and apple sauce is an alternative to that with less prep if you’re using premade sauce. I’ve also used apple sauce as a way to add moisture and sweetness to slow braised greens, like spiced and buttered red cabbage or really tough winter collards. Oh, and I’ve used apple sauce as a binder in meat stuffed dumplings, it was sausage and apple sauce and leeks I want to say? Delicious but a pain to make. The apple sauce added moisture and sweetness and kept the filling together.
To an American palate apples are kind of subtle in flavor, not super noticeable. It blends well with a lot of foods and acts as an enhancer rather than a central aspect of a dish. In sauce form, without the characteristic crispness of the whole fruit, it’s just sweet with a light tartness, especially when cooked down. Where I am in Washington State, apples are a big deal and we get into grocery store arguments about heirloom varieties and people have very strong apple opinions, but in most of the country there are still only a handful of types commonly available and the fruit’s seasonality is not that apparent. Apple sauce is available year round and can be blended for flavor consistency and uses fruit that wouldn’t be sellable in whole form. Culturally I’m sure apple sauces have been pushed on us by numerous agricultural initiatives so it feels like a traditional food or part of traditional foodways even though I bet a lot of it was invented by Big Mott’s or whoever. That’s just my educated suspicion though.
posted by Mizu at 1:14 AM on December 20, 2023 [14 favorites]
Apple sauce is good as a snack on its own if you are a minimalist and good to top with things like seeds and nuts or other fruit (often dried). Some people like to top oatmeal or other hot cereals with it. It is invaluable for vegan and low-allergen baking because it can replace eggs in many recipes.
Apart from the shelf stable cups in sack lunches when I was little, I was introduced to real applesauce as a kid for Chanukkah, because my mom would make it from scratch yearly to have with latkes. She would halve and core McIntosh apples, but not peel them, boil them in just a little water, and then run the whole pot through a food mill. The peels would neatly separate in the food mill but add lots of flavor and color to the sauce. She would portion this out into small amounts and freeze the lot, except for just enough to have with latkes a few times in the winter, and we would have enough for the whole year. Much tastier than the shelf stable stuff. We would add cinnamon if having some as a snack but with latkes we would have it plain, with sour cream as well.
Apple sauce is good with pork chops as mentioned above, and you can push it towards savory by adding herbs like sage and rosemary. Roasted apples are a nice combination with a lot of cold weather dishes and apple sauce is an alternative to that with less prep if you’re using premade sauce. I’ve also used apple sauce as a way to add moisture and sweetness to slow braised greens, like spiced and buttered red cabbage or really tough winter collards. Oh, and I’ve used apple sauce as a binder in meat stuffed dumplings, it was sausage and apple sauce and leeks I want to say? Delicious but a pain to make. The apple sauce added moisture and sweetness and kept the filling together.
To an American palate apples are kind of subtle in flavor, not super noticeable. It blends well with a lot of foods and acts as an enhancer rather than a central aspect of a dish. In sauce form, without the characteristic crispness of the whole fruit, it’s just sweet with a light tartness, especially when cooked down. Where I am in Washington State, apples are a big deal and we get into grocery store arguments about heirloom varieties and people have very strong apple opinions, but in most of the country there are still only a handful of types commonly available and the fruit’s seasonality is not that apparent. Apple sauce is available year round and can be blended for flavor consistency and uses fruit that wouldn’t be sellable in whole form. Culturally I’m sure apple sauces have been pushed on us by numerous agricultural initiatives so it feels like a traditional food or part of traditional foodways even though I bet a lot of it was invented by Big Mott’s or whoever. That’s just my educated suspicion though.
posted by Mizu at 1:14 AM on December 20, 2023 [14 favorites]
It tends to be eaten with savoury foods, not as dessert. You put it on your dinner plate and the sharp sweetness of the apples complements the taste of everything else. (if you are a meat eater, it’s particularly good with pork.)
In Ashkenazi Jewish culture it’s also a traditional accompaniment to Hanukkah latkes (potato pancakes). The acid in the apples is refreshing with the fried latkes.
Northern Europe is apple country, so the American usage probably came from there. Wikipedia has more.
posted by Pallas Athena at 1:15 AM on December 20, 2023 [9 favorites]
In Ashkenazi Jewish culture it’s also a traditional accompaniment to Hanukkah latkes (potato pancakes). The acid in the apples is refreshing with the fried latkes.
Northern Europe is apple country, so the American usage probably came from there. Wikipedia has more.
posted by Pallas Athena at 1:15 AM on December 20, 2023 [9 favorites]
Despite the name, they don't think of it as only a sauce. It also seems to fall into the same category as yoghurt and "pudding" but healthier because fruit.
posted by plonkee at 1:18 AM on December 20, 2023 [9 favorites]
posted by plonkee at 1:18 AM on December 20, 2023 [9 favorites]
Here in the UK it’s a traditional accompaniment to roast pork. That’s the only time we ate it in my home growing up - but we ALWAYS had it with roast pork.
Pork and apple. A classic combination! Our local butcher did pork and apple burgers & sausages which were delicious.
posted by Ted Maul at 1:41 AM on December 20, 2023 [6 favorites]
Pork and apple. A classic combination! Our local butcher did pork and apple burgers & sausages which were delicious.
posted by Ted Maul at 1:41 AM on December 20, 2023 [6 favorites]
Can confirm through unfortunate recent personal experience that if you’ve been having trouble keeping other foods down, applesauce is surprisingly easy to tolerate. The BRAT diet (bananas, rice, applesauce, toast) is soothing for people who’ve had a stomach virus or other issue causing vomiting or diarrhea, because those foods are easy to digest and have fiber which can help solidify stool.
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 1:59 AM on December 20, 2023 [8 favorites]
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 1:59 AM on December 20, 2023 [8 favorites]
It can also be great as an egg replacement (in chemical science terms) for some types of vegan recipes.
posted by many-things at 2:01 AM on December 20, 2023 [3 favorites]
posted by many-things at 2:01 AM on December 20, 2023 [3 favorites]
As mentioned above, it's a popular food for children.
It's commonly available in a pouch format, on its own or mixed with other fruit, and given to children as an on-the-go snack.
Applesauce does have applications in cooking and baking, but typically as a substitute item to reduce calories/sugar.
posted by champers at 2:17 AM on December 20, 2023
It's commonly available in a pouch format, on its own or mixed with other fruit, and given to children as an on-the-go snack.
Applesauce does have applications in cooking and baking, but typically as a substitute item to reduce calories/sugar.
posted by champers at 2:17 AM on December 20, 2023
Crispy potato pancakes with applesauce (Kartoffelpuffer mit Apfelmus) is a common and delicious street food in Germany.
posted by guessthis at 2:58 AM on December 20, 2023 [9 favorites]
posted by guessthis at 2:58 AM on December 20, 2023 [9 favorites]
It's a nice snack.
Hydrating and sweet, without being filling.
Especially nice to eat when you're sick, no matter what kind of sick. Feels good on a sore throat and a sore tummy.
Sometimes I'll also put a few big spoons in as sugar when I'm making "healthy" muffins.
posted by phunniemee at 4:38 AM on December 20, 2023 [1 favorite]
Hydrating and sweet, without being filling.
Especially nice to eat when you're sick, no matter what kind of sick. Feels good on a sore throat and a sore tummy.
Sometimes I'll also put a few big spoons in as sugar when I'm making "healthy" muffins.
posted by phunniemee at 4:38 AM on December 20, 2023 [1 favorite]
Frequently served along side pork.
There is a well known trick in which 50% of the fat in a cake or quickbread is replaced with applesauce. The effect on the finished product is surprisingly little, at least on day one. The cake does dry out a little faster than the full fat original. Some homemade applesauce may be a little too watery for a good result.
posted by SemiSalt at 4:55 AM on December 20, 2023
There is a well known trick in which 50% of the fat in a cake or quickbread is replaced with applesauce. The effect on the finished product is surprisingly little, at least on day one. The cake does dry out a little faster than the full fat original. Some homemade applesauce may be a little too watery for a good result.
posted by SemiSalt at 4:55 AM on December 20, 2023
Applesauce in the US, UK, and Germany at least is pureed, so it is just a...goo. Apple pie filling has chunks of apples in it. Apple butter is applesauce cooked down until it is stiffer, but it would still be a danger in pies.
Except in the presence of European potatoes*, it is locked in my mind as baby/kid food, as I was forced to eat it in preschool in a way that 50 years later I still have an aversion to a specific texture of plastic bowl as well as the food itself. I'm still sort of baffled that it comes in such large jars, but I do know there are some braised pork recipes that use it as the liquid. Or maybe people just eat that much applesauce but never in my presence.
I would rather eat cold pie filling from a can, myself.
*Generally given the choice though, I will always order the sour cream instead. But I've had them with the applesauce and I understand, it does work pretty well. Lingonberries or cranberry sauce is still better on either potatoes or pork, though, as is raspberry/strawberry-habanero jam.
posted by Lyn Never at 5:12 AM on December 20, 2023
Except in the presence of European potatoes*, it is locked in my mind as baby/kid food, as I was forced to eat it in preschool in a way that 50 years later I still have an aversion to a specific texture of plastic bowl as well as the food itself. I'm still sort of baffled that it comes in such large jars, but I do know there are some braised pork recipes that use it as the liquid. Or maybe people just eat that much applesauce but never in my presence.
I would rather eat cold pie filling from a can, myself.
*Generally given the choice though, I will always order the sour cream instead. But I've had them with the applesauce and I understand, it does work pretty well. Lingonberries or cranberry sauce is still better on either potatoes or pork, though, as is raspberry/strawberry-habanero jam.
posted by Lyn Never at 5:12 AM on December 20, 2023
Applesauce in the US, UK, and Germany at least is pureed, so it is just a...goo
Some applesauce is pureed, especially commercial applesauce. Some applesauce is has chunks of apple in it. Source: live in the US; my grandmother made chunky applesauce, my mother makes chunky applesauce, I make chunky applesauce.
I use applesauce for:
-topping latkes or pancakes
-mix into oatmeal with cinnamon sugar and maybe also raisins
-quickbreads/muffins
-snack! especially with cinnamon
-back up nalesniki/blintz filling if I run out of the cheese filling
-serve with roasted meat/chops
If you really want to try applesauce in a pie you can make a Marlborough Pie with it, but I prefer shredded apples for texture.
posted by carrioncomfort at 5:37 AM on December 20, 2023 [7 favorites]
Some applesauce is pureed, especially commercial applesauce. Some applesauce is has chunks of apple in it. Source: live in the US; my grandmother made chunky applesauce, my mother makes chunky applesauce, I make chunky applesauce.
I use applesauce for:
-topping latkes or pancakes
-mix into oatmeal with cinnamon sugar and maybe also raisins
-quickbreads/muffins
-snack! especially with cinnamon
-back up nalesniki/blintz filling if I run out of the cheese filling
-serve with roasted meat/chops
If you really want to try applesauce in a pie you can make a Marlborough Pie with it, but I prefer shredded apples for texture.
posted by carrioncomfort at 5:37 AM on December 20, 2023 [7 favorites]
We also have flavored applesauce for kids and adults sometimes with mixins like strawberry applesause. At some point it's more of a smoothie than applesause imho. Just this morning I had an applesauce pouch for breakfast.
There's a big deal in the US right now because a few cinnamon applesauce brands had high concentrations of lead in them and children had high lead levels when tested.
posted by AlexiaSky at 6:20 AM on December 20, 2023 [1 favorite]
There's a big deal in the US right now because a few cinnamon applesauce brands had high concentrations of lead in them and children had high lead levels when tested.
posted by AlexiaSky at 6:20 AM on December 20, 2023 [1 favorite]
In addition to being used as a topping for latkes (potato pancakes), it's also often used to top pierogis.
posted by Mr.Know-it-some at 6:21 AM on December 20, 2023 [4 favorites]
posted by Mr.Know-it-some at 6:21 AM on December 20, 2023 [4 favorites]
My dad eats it in a bowl, cold, with a spoon for breakfast, every day for decades.
posted by emd3737 at 6:27 AM on December 20, 2023
posted by emd3737 at 6:27 AM on December 20, 2023
Now I want applesauce. Homemade chunky applesauce is glorious.
I make a pork chop dish - brown the chops, add onion, apples and wine and let everything simmer. Take out chops, add butter. So not applesauce, but similar use.
posted by Ftsqg at 6:34 AM on December 20, 2023 [1 favorite]
I make a pork chop dish - brown the chops, add onion, apples and wine and let everything simmer. Take out chops, add butter. So not applesauce, but similar use.
posted by Ftsqg at 6:34 AM on December 20, 2023 [1 favorite]
Prohibition
In the early years of the twentieth century, there were vast acres of apple trees in many parts of the USA, and every farm that could grow them had a few apple trees. They weren't growing them for pie or for eating raw, although they did use them for that too, they were growing them for cider. Apple jack was a way that a farmer in the northern parts of the country could safely and cheaply make hard liquor at home. When you freeze an alcoholic apple cider the water freezes first. The alcohol is separated out and you can drain it off. But almost all of those apples from those thousands of acres of orchards were sold to commercial cider companies to make alcohol cider. Overnight all that ended. It was illegal to make or sell alcoholic beverages. No one was buying apples.
Cider apples are terrible keepers. They are juicy. This means they bruise easily and the take so long to dry that they usually go moldy. In 1920 there were suddenly millions of millions of surplus watery apples. What to do with them?
They made them into applesauce, and applesauce became ubiquitous. Bread and applesauce and applesauce and cottage cheese were standard meals for children. Applesauce was added to biscuits and breads and cookies. People figured out ways to make applesauce pie. German immigrants introduced their neighbours to Himmel und Erde (mashed turnips with apple sauce), cellars were filled with applesauce in gleaming jars, applesauce was dirt cheap and abundant and you found it everywhere. And later in the depression, when you couldn't afford sugar, apple sauce could be canned without it, and became something sweet you could eat during hard times.
After prohibition, beer took over. Part of this is because cider apples bruise and spoil easily so the large manufacturers found storing and transporting the ingredients needed for beer making on a large scale much easier than storing and transporting the ingredients needed for cider. The other issue was that for thirteen years those apple orchards had been neglected or even cut down. They weren't able to produce on commercial scale. Hops, however, only take 120 days from planting to harvesting if the weather is cooperative. Grain is an annual. Apple trees take around eight years to produce fruit after you plant them. So post-prohibition the apple growers didn't recover their market.
If the apple growers stayed in the apple business, they planted harder, less juicy apples that were more likely to survive a trip in a box car. However, if those regular apples didn't survive a trip in the box car very well, and the apples arrived part frozen, or overheated and starting to turn - you could still work fast and turn them into applesauce and salvage your investment.
posted by Jane the Brown at 6:39 AM on December 20, 2023 [32 favorites]
In the early years of the twentieth century, there were vast acres of apple trees in many parts of the USA, and every farm that could grow them had a few apple trees. They weren't growing them for pie or for eating raw, although they did use them for that too, they were growing them for cider. Apple jack was a way that a farmer in the northern parts of the country could safely and cheaply make hard liquor at home. When you freeze an alcoholic apple cider the water freezes first. The alcohol is separated out and you can drain it off. But almost all of those apples from those thousands of acres of orchards were sold to commercial cider companies to make alcohol cider. Overnight all that ended. It was illegal to make or sell alcoholic beverages. No one was buying apples.
Cider apples are terrible keepers. They are juicy. This means they bruise easily and the take so long to dry that they usually go moldy. In 1920 there were suddenly millions of millions of surplus watery apples. What to do with them?
They made them into applesauce, and applesauce became ubiquitous. Bread and applesauce and applesauce and cottage cheese were standard meals for children. Applesauce was added to biscuits and breads and cookies. People figured out ways to make applesauce pie. German immigrants introduced their neighbours to Himmel und Erde (mashed turnips with apple sauce), cellars were filled with applesauce in gleaming jars, applesauce was dirt cheap and abundant and you found it everywhere. And later in the depression, when you couldn't afford sugar, apple sauce could be canned without it, and became something sweet you could eat during hard times.
After prohibition, beer took over. Part of this is because cider apples bruise and spoil easily so the large manufacturers found storing and transporting the ingredients needed for beer making on a large scale much easier than storing and transporting the ingredients needed for cider. The other issue was that for thirteen years those apple orchards had been neglected or even cut down. They weren't able to produce on commercial scale. Hops, however, only take 120 days from planting to harvesting if the weather is cooperative. Grain is an annual. Apple trees take around eight years to produce fruit after you plant them. So post-prohibition the apple growers didn't recover their market.
If the apple growers stayed in the apple business, they planted harder, less juicy apples that were more likely to survive a trip in a box car. However, if those regular apples didn't survive a trip in the box car very well, and the apples arrived part frozen, or overheated and starting to turn - you could still work fast and turn them into applesauce and salvage your investment.
posted by Jane the Brown at 6:39 AM on December 20, 2023 [32 favorites]
Sure, some people put sour cream on potato latkes. But the appropriate topping is applesauce.
posted by Glinn at 6:44 AM on December 20, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by Glinn at 6:44 AM on December 20, 2023 [2 favorites]
Northern Europe is apple country, so the American usage probably came from there. Wikipedia has more.
Here in Denmark, there are also plenty jars of apple sauce in supermarkets, so someone is buying them. I make it myself, some years, and it disappears very, very rapidly.
But it is also a product that reminds me how different my childhood was from childhood today. Now, my grandsons get a pouch every now and then as a snack. Back then, we rarely had snacks outside mealtimes, but we often had applesauce as a dessert, topped with milk or cream. And it was good, but it would seem strange to me to offer it at dinner today. I also remember it as a side to pork as others have mentioned, but I haven't seen that for ages.
A more chunky cooked apple thing is the base of what we call "old-fashioned apple cake", which is not a cake, and is still immensely popular. I wonder if some people use applesauce for that.
posted by mumimor at 8:48 AM on December 20, 2023 [1 favorite]
Here in Denmark, there are also plenty jars of apple sauce in supermarkets, so someone is buying them. I make it myself, some years, and it disappears very, very rapidly.
But it is also a product that reminds me how different my childhood was from childhood today. Now, my grandsons get a pouch every now and then as a snack. Back then, we rarely had snacks outside mealtimes, but we often had applesauce as a dessert, topped with milk or cream. And it was good, but it would seem strange to me to offer it at dinner today. I also remember it as a side to pork as others have mentioned, but I haven't seen that for ages.
A more chunky cooked apple thing is the base of what we call "old-fashioned apple cake", which is not a cake, and is still immensely popular. I wonder if some people use applesauce for that.
posted by mumimor at 8:48 AM on December 20, 2023 [1 favorite]
I grew up eating homemade applesauce on regular (not potato) pancakes, rather than syrup. Delicious. Apart from that, as other have described, we just had it on the dinner plate sometimes like any other side or salad to accompany a protein main. Definitely not just kid food!
posted by CheeseLouise at 9:40 AM on December 20, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by CheeseLouise at 9:40 AM on December 20, 2023 [2 favorites]
Growing up, anytime we had pork chops, it was served alongside that. (In addition to being a snack.) My husband’s family uses it in place of cranberries when having a turkey dinner, as most of them don’t like cranberries.
posted by tubedogg at 10:55 AM on December 20, 2023
posted by tubedogg at 10:55 AM on December 20, 2023
My family made and canned applesauce when I was a kid, in fact we still do but in smaller quantities. Whole wheat toast, spread with peanut butter, topped with applesauce, was a breakfast staple. Or peanut butter and applesauce on cornbread. Or, as a winter dessert, applesauce and cream on fresh gingerbread.
posted by dorey_oh at 12:44 PM on December 20, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by dorey_oh at 12:44 PM on December 20, 2023 [2 favorites]
Here in New Zealand my grandmother and mother would can “stewed apples” which was slightly chunkier and lightly spiced with cloves. This would be baked between two sheets of sweet short pastry as apple shortcake, or used as the filling for an apple crumble dessert. In a crumble, stewed apple could also stretch other seasonal tangy fresh fruit, such as feijoa and rhubarb. It would also be a lovely breakfast treat.
I make a big jug of stewed apple and don’t preserve it, my kids call it apple stew and motor through it in a day or so just for snacking, although I’ll put aside a couple of half-cup baggies in the freezer for use in lower fat muffin.
Apple sauce as a purée was strictly served with roast pork, a rare treat in itself. Cold roast pork is a summer Christmas treat for me and I’ll be making some slightly chunky apple sauce to go with it. (Mum over-cooked the roast every time and the apple sauce helped a lot!)
My husband’s family is from Europe and the UK and they served apple sauce and mint sauce with any roast dinner; I was at first lightly scandalised by this as for my family mint sauce was only for lamb and apple sauce only for pork. I’ll now serve home made apple sauce with a roast chicken if I have it in the fridge, but wouldn’t go out of my way to make it.
posted by slightlybewildered at 12:53 PM on December 20, 2023
I make a big jug of stewed apple and don’t preserve it, my kids call it apple stew and motor through it in a day or so just for snacking, although I’ll put aside a couple of half-cup baggies in the freezer for use in lower fat muffin.
Apple sauce as a purée was strictly served with roast pork, a rare treat in itself. Cold roast pork is a summer Christmas treat for me and I’ll be making some slightly chunky apple sauce to go with it. (Mum over-cooked the roast every time and the apple sauce helped a lot!)
My husband’s family is from Europe and the UK and they served apple sauce and mint sauce with any roast dinner; I was at first lightly scandalised by this as for my family mint sauce was only for lamb and apple sauce only for pork. I’ll now serve home made apple sauce with a roast chicken if I have it in the fridge, but wouldn’t go out of my way to make it.
posted by slightlybewildered at 12:53 PM on December 20, 2023
I make an applesauce spice cake that routinely gets raves at potlucks. It's appallingly simple, really: applesauce, oil, flour, sugar, spices (cinnamon/nutmeg/allspice and similar).
posted by humbug at 1:17 PM on December 20, 2023
posted by humbug at 1:17 PM on December 20, 2023
I've found that applesauce mixed with barbecue sauce is good for anything you would use barbecue sauce for. On roast meats or as a dipping sauce for french fries, or whatever.
posted by indexy at 2:05 PM on December 20, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by indexy at 2:05 PM on December 20, 2023 [2 favorites]
For me, while it's a thing I'd consider eating as a snack (and certainly did as a kid), these days mostly it's a food I can tolerate when I'm nauseous and that's shelf-stable so I can keep it in the pantry until I need it (unlike a banana). It's usually reasonably appealing even if I don't feel hungry, it's got some available sugar to give me energy quickly, and won't further upset my stomach. It's a component of the BRAT diet which is largely debunked, but which I still find personally useful when I'm not feeling well.
posted by duien at 2:26 PM on December 20, 2023
posted by duien at 2:26 PM on December 20, 2023
I (in the US) ate quite a bit of applesauce as a child. Nowadays we buy applesauce to go with pork chops or pierogi. Or oral surgery. I've used it in pancakes, but I've since switched to diced apples for the texture.
posted by The Great Big Mulp at 3:34 PM on December 20, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by The Great Big Mulp at 3:34 PM on December 20, 2023 [1 favorite]
As a child I remembering it being a dinner staple alongside pork chops.
posted by firefly5 at 3:55 PM on December 20, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by firefly5 at 3:55 PM on December 20, 2023 [1 favorite]
I love cold applesauce on a hot summer day.
posted by oneirodynia at 5:02 PM on December 21, 2023
posted by oneirodynia at 5:02 PM on December 21, 2023
You are not logged in, either login or create an account to post comments
posted by catspajammies at 12:45 AM on December 20, 2023 [24 favorites]