“Will smith shot the kid not giving a hoot!
Agents all over shocked right to the boot!
He simply said I gave the kid some lemon
He didn’t squint! Now that’s surely a demon!”
If you meet a man or woman who does not wink or squint while eating the first sour green mango of the season especially without salt then he or she may most definitely be either an alien or a robot!
The best and tastiest memories of raw mangoes I had was when my mother used to cut them into long slice and put salt and red chili powder and put a tempering of mustard and oil on them! They were so good but you cannot eat them in a gulp! Only some pieces at a time and that too with frequent breaks in between! Then some curd rice since Mom told us not to drink water when we ate mango! I still follow that without any reason! Even the mangos we used to get at the road side which had the red and white powder were so tasty! The famous Totapuri mango which were a little sweet and sour may be the only mangoes you could eat without a wink!
Apple was introduced much later though since we were in Jammu, it was also a big fad especially the red ones but I do not remember eating them! But my mother always used to tell about the Kashmiri apples which were supposedly as sweet as sugar!
Now there are two kinds of Apple eaters apparently! The ones who eat the red ones and those who eat the greens! I like the red one since the green ones are usually sour and since I am allergic, it is better to avoid any sour stuff! The green apples though are a hit all over the world and in case you did not know, they are called Granny Smith apples!
And yes! They are named after an actual Grand mother Smith! Unfortunately she was no longer around when these apples became famous of got named after her!
Read on!
So the original ‘Granny’ Maria Sherwood was born in 1799 in Sussex, England. In 1819, she married farm laborer Thomas Smith, and changed her name to Maria Smith. Together, they migrated to Ryde, Australia and bought 24 acres of land!
One day in 1868, Maria discarded the peels and seeds from a box of French crab apples she had purchased at the market. She threw them onto a compost heap near a creek on their farm. Some months later, she noticed a little tree growing from the pile.
She tended to it, and eventually it bore – not red apples – but green apples! She took care of the tree until the day she died in 1870, at the age of 71 without knowing or being aware of the fact that her tree and the green apples would one day be famous all over the world!
Finally several years later, an orchardist named Edward Gallard bought part of the Smith farm. He noticed this unusual tree and its green apples, and developed the seedling into an orchard!
As it turned out, the trees weren’t French crab apple trees. They appeared to be producing a brand new hybrid variety – a cross between a crab apple and a Cleopatra apple.
So Gallard who was a truthful guy decided to name the fruit the “Granny Smith,” in honour of the little old lady who first cultivated it! This is so opposite to the usual credit hungry Homo Sapien! We must also appreciate Gallard for this! So anyway they were marketed and pretty soon became pretty famous and continue to do so even now! Some legacies live on long after people are gone just like the legacy of Manna Dey! One of my best sketches of him which probably reflects my respect for his skill!
Now have some sweet or sour apple and sleep!
Shubh Ratri!
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