The Norfolk Biffin, also spelt Norfolk Beefing, is a local

apple An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple fruit tree, trees are agriculture, cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus ''Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, wh ...

cultivar A cultivar is a type of cultivated plant that people have selected for desired traits and when propagated retain those traits. Methods used to propagate cultivars include: division, root and stem cuttings, offsets, grafting, tissue culture, ...

originating from the English county of

Norfolk Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...

, also known by several other names including Reeds Baker, Tallesin, and Winter Coleman. "Biffin" is thought to be a corruption of "beefing", which refers to the apple's dark red beef-like colour, or perhaps beefing is a corruption of biffin.

Description

Norfolk Biffins, or Beefings, are round, slightly flat, apples about three inches across and two and a half inches high (about seven by six centimetres). The skin is yellow-green, but with brown-purple and dark red streaks. Inside, the flesh has a green tint, is crisp, and is said to have a hint of the flavour of

cinnamon Cinnamon is a spice obtained from the inner bark of several tree species from the genus ''Cinnamomum''. Cinnamon is used mainly as an aromatic condiment and flavouring additive in a wide variety of cuisines, sweet and savoury dishes, breakfa ...

. The apples store well, getting sweeter with keeping, and are good for cooking and drying.Norfolk Beefing
at practicallyedible.com By March of the year after harvesting, they are sweet enough to use as dessert apples.APPLES - COOKING VARIETIES
at chrisbowers.co.uk With keeping, they turn a deeper brown or maroon colour, with harder, more solid flesh.Don, Monty,
Mistletoe and vine
' in ''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. First published in 1791, it is the w ...

'' dated Sunday December 16 2001, online at guardian.co.uk These apples were popular with

Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. Norwich is by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. As the seat of the See of Norwich, with ...

bakers and were sent to London fruiterers as a delicacy. They were also used for

cider Cider ( ) is an alcoholic beverage made from the fermented juice of apples. Cider is widely available in the United Kingdom (particularly in the West Country) and the Republic of Ireland. The UK has the world's highest per capita consumption, ...

making. The trees are vigorous, with heavy crops of fruit. Some thinning is necessary in good years.

Biffins

Norfolk Biffins dried in the oven are known as "biffins" (''cf.''

baked apple A baked apple is a culinary dish, dish consisting of an apple baking, baked in an oven until it has become soft. The core is usually removed and the resulting cavity stuffed with sweet or savory fillings and seasonings. Pears and quinces may be ...

). Flat in appearance and soft to the touch, biffins are prepared in large quantities in Norfolk, England. The apples are baked very slowly in an oven for a long period of time. Children used to be given them as a treat, as they might receive ice-cream or crisps nowadays, or they could be taken home to eat with cream. These were slowly cooked whole, then cored, then rubbed with sugar. To eat, you would peel off the tough skin, and garnish with more sugar and cream. You would eat them cold or room temperature. Very popular in Victorian times but largely died out commercially after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. In

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...

, the large native persimmon is treated to a processing and flattening to be used in cooking reminiscent of the Biffin.

History

The Norfolk Biffin is an apple variety grown over some three hundred years, often for drying to make 'biffins' (''viz.'', "a baked apple flattened in the form of a cake"). The estate records for Mannington,

, dating from 1698, of

Robert Walpole Robert Walpole, 1st Earl of Orford, (26 August 1676 – 18 March 1745; known between 1725 and 1742 as Sir Robert Walpole) was a British statesman and Whig politician who, as First Lord of the Treasury, Chancellor of the Exchequer, and Leader ...

(later the first

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

) mention Norfolk Biffin apples which Walpole had sent up to his house in London. The apple is documented in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

from the 1840s. The Norfolk Biffin is also mentioned by

Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian e ...

, first in ''

A Christmas Carol ''A Christmas Carol. In Prose. Being a Ghost Story of Christmas'', commonly known as ''A Christmas Carol'', is a novella by Charles Dickens, first published in London by Chapman & Hall in 1843 and illustrated by John Leech. ''A Christmas C ...

'' and in '' Martin Chuzzlewit'' (1843), later in '' Dombey and Son'' (1846-1848) and in ''Boots at the Holly-tree Inn'' (1858). The first of these says: "Norfolk Biffins, squab and swarthy, setting off the yellow of oranges and lemons, and in the great compactness of their juicy persons, urgently entreating and beseeching to be carried home in paper bags and eaten after dinner". The last of these has: "Cobbs, do you think you could bring a biffin, please?... I think a Norfolk biffin would rouse her, Cobbs. She is very fond of them." The Victorian food writer and poet Eliza Acton recommends the apple in her ''Modern cookery, in all its branches'' (1845) as the best apple to use when baking 'Black Caps par Excellence' (a sugared baked apple made with wine and lemon peel): "The Norfolk biffin answers for this dish far better than any other kind of apple". Acton, Eliza, ''Modern cookery, in all its branches'' (London: Longman, Brown, Green & Longmans, 1845
p. 531
online A recipe for biffins of 1882 advises: "... choose Norfolk Biffins with the clearest most blemish free rinds, then lay them on clean straw on baking wire and cover well with more straw. Set them in a very slow oven for four to five hours. Draw them out and press them very gently, otherwise their skins will burst. Return them now to the oven for another hour, then press them again. When cold, rub them over with clarified sugar".Fruit Group Newsletter 03
at rhs.org.uk, accessed 7 August 2008 In Victorian London, there was a Christmas trade in biffins, supplied by Norwich bakers, who cooked the apples in their bread-ovens, weighed down with an iron plate to exclude air. The apple is now only rarely seen in English orchards, having been widely replaced by such varieties as the

Cox's Orange Pippin Cox's Orange Pippin, in Britain often referred to simply as Cox, is an apple cultivar first grown in 1825, at Colnbrook in Buckinghamshire, England, by the retired brewer and horticulturist Richard Cox. Though the parentage of the cultivar i ...

. However, it is still grown by gardeners for home consumption and the cultivar can still be bought commercially.

Notes

External links

Norfolk Biffin photograph
at flickr.com {{Apples, state=collapsed Apple cultivars British apples Norfolk