A Taste for Autumn, Part One: Apple Orchards & Cider Doughnuts

"Delicious autumn! My very soul is wedded to it, and if I were a bird I would fly about the earth seeking the successive autumns."
- George Eliot



I will admit it. I look forward to autumn all year long. No other time of year speaks so profoundly to the soul or the senses and so clearly allows us to feel the passage of time and season. The feeling of cool, crisp weather and clear skies. The smell in the air. The changing of colors in the trees and on the ground. Even the psychological resonance of the season has a deeply bittersweet allure. There is a warm, introspective melancholy that sets in as we prepare for another winter.

But most of all, there is the food. For any dedicated gastronome, I can't imagine a better time of the year. All around the world, the bounty of fall's harvest is celebrated, and for good reason. Grapes, apples, truffles (for those lucky individuals), leafy greens, squashes and root vegetables of all types are being harvested and put to use. Wines are being made. Game and farm animals are hunted, butchered and stored for the winter. Autumn brings with it long, slow cooking methods, and hearty, comforting dishes with their spices and flavors filling rooms with heavenly aromas.



Growing up in upstate New York, fall has always been a time I savored, for all those reasons. One thing in particular I have always loved is the experience of visiting an apple orchard. Few things are as simply satisfying as picking an apple straight from the tree and eating it right there outdoors. Allowing your senses to be fully engaged as the apple's initial crunch gives way to cool juices, dripping sweet and tart flavors, clean and simple.

And then there is the apple cider and, even more deliciously, the cider doughnut. Both are foods that seem to exist only to be eaten together, at an orchard, in the fall, right where they're made. For those who have not eaten a cider doughnut in these ideal settings, let me describe what you have been missing. A good cider doughnut is a warm, perfect balance of textures and flavors, savory and sweet. The outside is surprisnigly crisp, with an almost rough crunchiness of fried batter, and a warm bit of residual oiliness. The inside is a dense but light and tender cake, slightly crumbly, with hints of cinnamon, spice and subtle sweetness. A perfect bite to wash down with some hot cider on a brisk day in October.

I know this is just a doughnut. But it's a great example of the kind of foods I love to eat. One of those fleeting delicacies whose sum is greater than their parts. The kind of food experience that takes something ordinary, elevates it, and affects our senses in a way that engages more than just our taste buds. It becomes a time, a place, a person. A memory. Something that stays with us long after the last bite is gone and keeps us coming back again and again. And in the end, isn't that what good food is all about?

The doughnuts may have been devoured within minutes, but in addition to a beautiful day, there is a bushel of apples I'll be taking home with me as well. Next, I think i'll put all those fresh-picked apples to good use...

Special thanks to Littletree Orchards, Newfield, NY.
www.littletree-orchards.com

And of course to my apple taster and all-around partner in crime, Nicole Sommer.