All about apple > The story behind apple

The apple goes back to the furthest reaches of history. After all, it was when Adam bit into one that paradise ceased to exist on earth. But we haven't borne the apple any grudge: in the ensuing centuries it has spread throughout the world and is now found just about everywhere. However, despite its origins in Asia Minor, the apple is today one of the least common fruits east of Europe.

In Greek mythology, during the wedding feast of Peleus and Thetis the goddess Discord threw down an apple from the clouds, marked "for the fairest." Paris, given the unenviable task of choosing the most beautiful woman, gave the apple to Aphrodite who had bribed him by offering him Helen - and thus the Trojan war began.

In the superstition-filled Turkish and Persian cultures, to have a wish granted you have to eat 40 apples, blowing onto each of them while thinking of what you're wishing for, before biting into them one by one. Stopping at 39 will break the spell and bring down dire catastrophe upon the house… however, the story doesn't specify how much time is allowed for eating all 40!

Under France's King Henri IV, many varieties of apples were produced that could be eaten without restriction - except during the Christmas period.

The first apple trees arrived in New France in the baggage of Louis Hébert in 1617 but it was not until 1650 that the first orchard was planted by the Sulpicians on the slopes of Mont-Royal. The most prized varieties at the end of the 19th century were the Fameuse, Pomme Grise, Bourassa, Golden Russet, Tallman Sweet, Late Strawberry and Blue Permain.