| 'Coccagee' | |
|---|---|
| Species | Malus domestica |
| Origin |  Ireland, before 1700s. |
The Coccagee (from the Irish cac a' gheidh, "dung of the goose"), [1] also spelt 'Cackagee' or 'Cockagee' and sometimes known as the 'Irish Crab' or 'Lord Cork's Crab', [2] is or was a variety of cider apple, known in Ireland and the West of England.
Hogg described the 'Coccagee' as "one of the oldest and best of cider apples". [3] He noted that the variety originated in Ireland, but in c. 1710 it was taken to Somerset and promoted in the area around Minehead as suitable for cider, [3] after which it was commonly planted in the west of England. It was also known in Wales under the name afal baw gwydd ("goose dung apple"). [4]
In Ireland it was found in many estate orchards in counties Clare and Limerick, and was regarded as an important part of local cider production, with barrels of single-varietal Coccagee cider fetching a high premium. Wakefield's 1812 Account of Ireland stated that "the celebrated cackagee apple is found near a town called Six Mile Bridge, in the County of Clare". [5]
Richard Graves referred to the variety, and its harshly acidic flavour, in his poem Hymen and Pomona: "Some, proud of sense and ill-bred wit / Are harsh as Coccagee". [6]
By the early 19th century it was often said to be the most favoured variety for cidermaking even in England, but by the end of the century it had been supplanted by newer cultivars and was little known. Irish domestic cider production contracted after the Great Famine and subsequent emigration, and the Coccagee also became rare in its country of origin.
The variety is currently thought to be lost, both in England and Ireland, [7] but the Gloucestershire Orchard Trust has recently explored the suggestion that the old local variety 'Hen's Turd' may in fact be the 'Coccagee'. [8]
As with several other very old varieties of cider apple, such as the Styre, the 'Coccagee' was a vigorous tree that could be propagated simply by striking a cutting in the earth, and this method of propagation was common in Ireland.
The fruit of the 'Coccagee' is small to medium-sized, ovate or conical, with pale yellow, green-flecked skin, the colour of which probably gave the variety its name. [3] The flesh is yellowish white and acidic, the juice fermenting to a pale, straw coloured cider compared to Canary wine. [2] Hogg described the apple as "perhaps the most harsh and austere apple known, and generally considered only fit for cider", but added "it is one of the best for all culinary purposes [...] as it possesses a particularly rich flavour when cooked". [3]
Perry or pear cider is an alcoholic beverage made from fermented pears, traditionally in England, particularly Gloucestershire, Herefordshire, and Worcestershire, parts of South Wales and France, especially Normandy and Anjou, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
The Granny Smith, also known as a green apple or sour apple, is an apple cultivar that originated in Australia in 1868. It is named after Maria Ann Smith, who propagated the cultivar from a chance seedling. The tree is thought to be a hybrid of Malus sylvestris, the European wild apple, with the domesticated apple Malus domestica as the polleniser.
H P Bulmer Limited, trading as Bulmers, is a cider-making company founded in 1887 in Hereford, England.
Bulmers cider is one of a number of brands owned by British cider maker H. P. Bulmer of Hereford. It is one of the biggest selling British bottled cider brands in the UK because it has the highest concentration of apples, with a number of variants including Bulmers Original & Pear. It should not be confused with Bulmers Irish Cider, sold outside the Republic of Ireland as Magners.
Wassail is a beverage made from hot mulled cider, ale, or wine and spices, drunk traditionally as an integral part of wassailing, an ancient English Yuletide drinking ritual and salutation either involved in door-to-door charity-giving or used to ensure a good harvest the following year.
Cider apples are a group of apple cultivars grown for their use in the production of cider. Cider apples are distinguished from "cookers" and "eaters", or dessert apples, by their bitterness or dryness of flavour, qualities which make the fruit unpalatable but can be useful in cidermaking. Some apples are considered to occupy more than one category.
Malus domestica is a cultivar of apple that is usually eaten cooked due to its sourness. The variety comes from a pip planted by Mary Ann Brailsford. The Concise Household Encyclopedia states, "Some people eat this apple raw in order to cleanse the palate, but Bramley's seedling is essentially the fruit for tart, pie, or dumpling." Once cooked, however, it has a lighter flavour. A peculiarity of the variety is that when cooked it becomes golden and fluffy. Vitamin C 15mg/100g.
The damson or damson plum, also archaically called the "damascene", is an edible drupaceous fruit, a subspecies of the plum tree. Varieties of insititia are found across Europe, but the name damson is derived from and most commonly applied to forms that are native to Great Britain. Damsons are relatively small ovoid plum-like fruit with a distinctive, somewhat astringent taste, and are widely used for culinary purposes, particularly in fruit preserves and jams.
Scrumpy is a type of cider originating in the West of England, particularly the West Country. Traditionally, the dialect term "scrumpy" was used to refer to what was otherwise called "rough", a harsh cider made from unselected apples.
The Kingston Black, also known as Black Taunton, is a cultivar of apple originating from the United Kingdom and used in making cider. The name of the cultivar comes from the apples' dark red or purplish skin, though despite the name, the fruit does not have a black hue.
'Dabinett' is an apple cultivar, customarily used in Somerset for making cider.
Cider is an alcoholic beverage made from the fermented juice of apples. Cider is widely available in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland. The UK has the world's highest per capita consumption, as well as the largest cider-producing companies. Ciders from the South West of England are generally higher in alcoholic content. Cider is also popular in many Commonwealth countries, such as India, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. As well as the UK and its former colonies, cider is popular in Portugal, France, Friuli, and northern Spain. Germany also has its own types of cider with Rhineland-Palatinate and Hesse producing a particularly tart version known as Apfelwein. In the U.S. and Canada, varieties of alcoholic cider are often called hard cider to distinguish it from non-alcoholic apple cider or "sweet cider", also made from apples. In Canada, cider cannot contain less than 2.5% or over 13% absolute alcohol by volume.
The Foxwhelp is a very old cider apple cultivar, originating in the west Midlands of England.
The Styre or Stire, also known as the Forest Styre, was an old English variety of cider apple which was formerly common in the Forest of Dean. It is currently thought to be extinct, but may still survive in old orchards or gardens.
The Redstreak, also spelt Redstrake, Red Streak or Red-streak, is or was a very old variety of cider apple formerly commonly planted in England.
Cider in the United Kingdom is widely available at pubs, off licences, and shops. It has been made in regions of the country where cider apples were grown since Roman times; in those regions it is intertwined with local culture, particularly in the West Country.
The Hangdown, also known as Hangydown, Horner, or the Pocket Apple, is a traditional variety of cider apple grown mostly in Somerset and North Devon.
Slack-ma-Girdle is an old variety of cider apple formerly widely grown in the South-West of England. It is one of a group of similar and closely related varieties all often known by the name "Woodbine".
The Woodcock was one of the oldest described English varieties of cider apple. It originated in the West of England in the counties of Herefordshire and Gloucestershire.
The 'Chisel Jersey' is a cultivar of cider apple originating in Somerset.
