Risoul's Apple
Presentation
The Risoul apple is a medium-sized apple variety with a tangy taste and very fragrant. This apple is renowned for its excellent shelf life. The ancients kept it in the hay, in the attic or in the cellar, until the beginning of summer ...
Registered since 1985 in the official catalog of species and varieties of plants cultivated in France, in the list of old varieties of amateurs for the south-eastern region.
It has been cultivated for several centuries in the orchards of Risoul, where it has long been an essential part of the diet of Risoulins. At its peak in the 1940s and 1960s, its production represented an important activity for the entire Guil valley. At that time, Risoul apples were even exported to North Africa! But the arrival on the market of the Golden apple in the 1960s marked the end of this growth.
It has been cultivated for several centuries in the orchards of Risoul, where it has long been an essential part of the diet of Risoulins. At its peak in the 1940s and 1960s, its production represented an important activity for the entire Guil valley. At that time, Risoul apples were even exported to North Africa! But the arrival on the market of the Golden apple in the 1960s marked the end of this growth.
Nowadays, it is the consumer demand for authentic, natural and different products that has allowed a resumption of production here and there on the fertile lands of yesteryear. The orchards produce large, late fruits from which it derives its nickname "April girl".
A few Risoulins producers, perpetuating the family tradition
This is the case of André Bonnaffoux known as "Kinou" for whom La Pomme de Risoul is a real family heirloom. His grandparents and his dad grew this apple which was used for family consumption.
At 17 if he sells a few apples to make 3 cents, at 30 he replanted Risoul apple trees, almost 200! Today he makes fruit juice and has a lot of requests even though he prefers to combine it with other varieties of apples or even other fruits. “The demand for expatriate Risoulins or Haut-Alpins, not to mention tourists, is strong,” he assures us. They like to rediscover the taste of their land. But there are also the curious, apple crunchers, who like to discover different flavors. It does not leave you indifferent: we like it or not! " This lover of old varieties, he has more than 2,000 trees for 25 varieties, and almost all of them are old apples, keeps a preference for the Risoul apple, the apple of his country!
10 years ago he set up his press workshop to make his own juice and promote all of his production. It produces 3,000 to 5,000 L depending on the yield that matches the weather conditions ...
Manu Combal also continues a family history, started by his father, Alain, who at 70 years old experienced the export of this fruit, a time when his exploitation was more than profitable! He remembers: “The last really commercial harvest was + 11 T, it was in 1955. With the fridges, we no longer needed this apple with exceptional storage conditions! Mechanization helped pull out apple trees, we pulled out the ¾. As a family we continued to consume it but we mainly gave it to cows or pigs! "
He remembers Michel Truc, technician at the Hautes-Alpes Chamber of Agriculture, who from the end of the 1980s played the role of advisor, encouraging people to promote this forgotten fruit. And it is with a dozen trees that Manu takes up the torch. But they are now hundred-year-old trees, very tall, in the open air. "To sell them as fruit they were collected from the tree with a ladder of 7 to 8 m. We put on the shirt, a sleeveless shirt that closed with a drawstring at the hips and used as a bag. Full, the apples evenly distributed to the back, you could carry up to twenty kilos! "
During the first years, he had his juice pressed in Châteauroux at Marc Bertrand's. But the volumes are increasing and the latter cannot keep up. He then brought his production to the CAT in St Auban… that's a bit far. Today it is the Ferme du Bon Pommier in St Clément which ensures the pressing.
For the first time, in 2010 he replanted some Risoul apple trees. Today, many risoulins consume this fruit again: "With a sausage it is excellent," the father and son maintain with greedy eyes!
Manu Combal only sells “pure Risoul apple” juice. “This enhancement allows us to conserve our agricultural heritage. It's a local apple! A mountain apple ”he concludes!
A few Risoulins producers, perpetuating the family tradition
This is the case of André Bonnaffoux known as "Kinou" for whom La Pomme de Risoul is a real family heirloom. His grandparents and his dad grew this apple which was used for family consumption.
At 17 if he sells a few apples to make 3 cents, at 30 he replanted Risoul apple trees, almost 200! Today he makes fruit juice and has a lot of requests even though he prefers to combine it with other varieties of apples or even other fruits. “The demand for expatriate Risoulins or Haut-Alpins, not to mention tourists, is strong,” he assures us. They like to rediscover the taste of their land. But there are also the curious, apple crunchers, who like to discover different flavors. It does not leave you indifferent: we like it or not! " This lover of old varieties, he has more than 2,000 trees for 25 varieties, and almost all of them are old apples, keeps a preference for the Risoul apple, the apple of his country!
10 years ago he set up his press workshop to make his own juice and promote all of his production. It produces 3,000 to 5,000 L depending on the yield that matches the weather conditions ...
Manu Combal also continues a family history, started by his father, Alain, who at 70 years old experienced the export of this fruit, a time when his exploitation was more than profitable! He remembers: “The last really commercial harvest was + 11 T, it was in 1955. With the fridges, we no longer needed this apple with exceptional storage conditions! Mechanization helped pull out apple trees, we pulled out the ¾. As a family we continued to consume it but we mainly gave it to cows or pigs! "
He remembers Michel Truc, technician at the Hautes-Alpes Chamber of Agriculture, who from the end of the 1980s played the role of advisor, encouraging people to promote this forgotten fruit. And it is with a dozen trees that Manu takes up the torch. But they are now hundred-year-old trees, very tall, in the open air. "To sell them as fruit they were collected from the tree with a ladder of 7 to 8 m. We put on the shirt, a sleeveless shirt that closed with a drawstring at the hips and used as a bag. Full, the apples evenly distributed to the back, you could carry up to twenty kilos! "
During the first years, he had his juice pressed in Châteauroux at Marc Bertrand's. But the volumes are increasing and the latter cannot keep up. He then brought his production to the CAT in St Auban… that's a bit far. Today it is the Ferme du Bon Pommier in St Clément which ensures the pressing.
For the first time, in 2010 he replanted some Risoul apple trees. Today, many risoulins consume this fruit again: "With a sausage it is excellent," the father and son maintain with greedy eyes!
Manu Combal only sells “pure Risoul apple” juice. “This enhancement allows us to conserve our agricultural heritage. It's a local apple! A mountain apple ”he concludes!
His qualities :
> A high concentration of antioxidants and fiber
> A very low calorie hold
> Excellent conservation (between 3 and 9 months)
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