Cooking pork with apples could be one of humanitys most ancient recipes. This combination appears in some of the oldest known cookbooks. Before that, though, long before people learned to write, people who lived in the Tien-Shan Mountains in Central Asia had access to both foods.
What is known today as Kazakhstans Sairam-Ugam National Park is home to incredible fruit trees. Their DNA has shown that they are the ancestors of the modern apple. In the fall, yellow, red, and green fruit tumble from their branches to the forest floor. Wild boars roam the wooded slopes of this nature reserve. Early people could have easily sat around an autumn fire and shared the day’s food, like apples picked from trees and a boar hunted with a simple spear tipped with a rock. They didn’t write down recipes on the walls of their caves, so archaeologists can only guess what they ate by looking at what they left in trash cans. No one will ever know if they ever combined boar with apples.
The more recent history of apples and pork is easier to figure out because European cooks started writing down their recipes around the fourth or fifth century AD. Early recipe books from the continent show how apples and pork were stewed together and how the fruit was sometimes crushed into sauces.
Pork chops and applesauce is a beloved meal combination that many associate with comfort food and family dinners, But where did this tasty pairing originally come from? The origins are actually more surprising than you might think!
A Famous TV Moment Brings Pork Chops & Applesauce to Pop Culture
While pork chops and applesauce was certainly eaten before the 1970s, this meal combo really became cemented in pop culture thanks to the iconic TV show, The Brady Bunch.
In a 1972 episode titled “The Personality Kid”, middle son Peter Brady pretends to be Humphrey Bogart and asks his mom Carol and housekeeper Alice what’s for dinner. When they tell him “pork chops and applesauce”, Peter responds in a Bogie voice, “Pork chops and applesauce? Yecch!”
This humorous moment helped make pork chops and applesauce a recognizable symbol of classic family dinners in the eyes of many viewers. The Brady family was shown eating this meal together numerous times throughout the show’s 5 seasons.
So while Humphrey Bogart never actually uttered the phrase Peter Brady imitating Bogie on a hugely popular sitcom helped bring pork chops and applesauce into pop culture notoriety.
Pork Chops and Apples: A Natural Pairing With Roots in History
While The Brady Bunch cemented this meal in the public imagination, the combination of pork chops and applesauce has much earlier origins.
Pork and apples have been paired for centuries due to the complementary flavors and textures. The mild sweetness of apples balances beautifully with the savory pork. And applesauce provides a nice counterpoint to the richness of the pork chops.
Pork is one of the oldest domesticated meats, with pigs being raised by ancient civilizations like the Chinese and Romans. Apples also have an exceptionally long history, with archaeological evidence showing they were eaten at least as far back as 6500 BC.
German and Dutch immigrants likely brought pork and apple recipes like schnitzel and sauerbraten when they settled in America. So the roots of this classic combo predate the TV dinner era by centuries.
Why Pork Chops Were a Natural Fit for Mid-Century Tables
During the mid-20th century when The Brady Bunch originally aired, pork chops became a staple dinner offering. Several factors contributed to this:
-
Convenience – Boneless pork chops cook quickly and easily. This made them an ideal weeknight dinner during the rise of suburban living and families with two working parents.
-
Affordability – Pork prices dropped in the period after World War 2 due to changes in farming practices and feed. This made pork chops an affordable and thrifty meal option.
-
Safety – Pork was marketed as being safer and more sanitary than beef starting in the 1950s. Government inspections helped boost consumer confidence after issues like trichinosis.
-
Mild Taste – The neutral taste of pork chops makes them appealing for households with picky young eaters. Chops could be breaded or served plain to suit all tastes.
With its fast cook time, gentle flavor, and thrifty price tag, the pork chop was perfectly positioned to become the star of family dinner tables during the postwar boom.
Applesauce Complements Pork Chop’s Rise to Prominence
As pork chops grew in popularity around mid-century, applesauce emerged as the perfect accompaniment for several reasons:
-
Taste – The sweet and tart flavor of applesauce balances the fattiness of pork marvelously. It provides a welcome contrast in texture too.
-
Nutrition – Serving fruit with dinner was encouraged in this era, and applesauce helped get kids to eat their produce.
-
Convenience – Canned and jarred applesauce took off in the 1950s, making this side dish easy and shelf-stable. This fit nicely with the rise of TV dinners and processed foods.
-
Cost – Applesauce could be bought or made affordably at home. So it added little cost to the thrifty pork chop dinner.
-
Familiarity – Pork and apples were a long-standing flavor pairing, so this combination likely felt nostalgic.
With its kid-friendly taste, nutritional benefits, and simple prep, applesauce made an ideal match for the convenience of pork chops.
The Meal Combo as an Icon of Family Life
As they appeared on tables across America in the decades following World War 2, pork chops and applesauce came to represent comforting stability and family values.
In a fast-changing world, this classic meal anchored many families’ weekday dinner routines, especially in the suburbs. The chops provided hearty satisfaction while the applesauce gave a wholesome touch.
Served on plastic TV trays watching shows like The Brady Bunch, pork chops and applesauce encapsulated the mid-century emphasis on domesticity, routine, and traditional gender roles. It suggested a father earning the family wage, a mother cooking each night, and kids clean plates.
Of course, the lives of real families rarely aligned so perfectly with this stereotype. But in pop culture, this meal combination came to symbolize the middle class family ideal in postwar America.
The Brady Bunch cemented this association by showing the wholesome clan gathered nightly around plates of pork chops and applesauce. That single famous line from the show transformed this meal into an icon of suburban domestic bliss.
The Enduring Appeal of a Classic Combo
While its mid-century popularity certainly had cultural context, the appeal of pork chops and applesauce endures because it’s simply a tasty pairing. The comforting mix of savory and sweet never goes out of style.
This meal is still a favorite for families today, even as family dynamics have changed. And it remains a menu staple in restaurants serving American fare.
Yet nothing can replace that vintage Brady Bunch nostalgia. For those who grew up watching the show, pork chops and applesauce will always recall memories of cozy family dinners and simpler times.
And thanks to Peter Brady’s famous impersonation, this classic meal combo is forever linked to Humphrey Bogart in the cultural imagination. Though Bogie never actually uttered the line, he gave the pairing a place in pop culture history.
So next time you sit down to pork chops and applesauce, appreciate just how this satisfying meal came to symbolize family, comfort, and a nod to nostalgia. From ancient roots to primetime TV, the components of this dinner combo are more storied than you might have ever realized!
Pork and apple pie in German cookbook – 1350
Recipes with ingredients like bacon and apples appear in the first known German-language cookbook. It was written around 1350 and is called “The Book of Good Food” or “Das Buch von guter Spise.” Michael de Leone, a wealthy resident of Wurzburg, asked for a longer book to be written about how he ran his household. Some parts of the larger manuscript have been lost, but the recipe collection remains.
The book includes a recipe for “Heathen Cakes” or “Heidenische kuchen. When meat, bacon, apples, and eggs are wrapped in a thin crust, it’s hard to say what is wrong with it. Honestly, the combination sounds divine, but people in the Medieval Age had their own ideas about religion. Even though this recipe isn’t for pork chops and applesauce, it shows that cooks in the area often mixed the two.
Later in the ancient tome comes the recipe for “Apfelmus,” or apple puree. Cooks are told to chop apples and boil them. Then, mix in wine and beat in eggs. The text explains that this is a good filling, but doesnt say for what. Perhaps medieval cooks used it to stuff the roasted, filled young pig mentioned earlier in the cookbook. Whether or not they used it to dress pork, this is a precursor to modern applesauce.
Early mention in Danish cookbook – 1616
Æbleflæsk, or apple pork, is a traditional Danish dish, usually eaten around Christmas time. This dish is so important to Danish culture that the recipe for it is in one of the first cookbooks ever written, which was published in 1616.
“Koge-Bog,” the title of this early recipe collection, translates simply to “Cookbook. ” The book contains a recipe for eblegrød (applesauce) and instructions to prepare pork loin with apples. Read these and cut apples into quarters. Then, cook them in fat with pork that has been cut into small or large chunks. Cooks seasoned this dish with wine, saffron, ginger, pepper, and salt.
It is thought by the Ribe Viking Center that åbleflæsk is much older than the recipe book where it is first recorded. In fact, Vikings may have served this dish during their reign between 800 and 1050 AD. Archaeologists know they ate both pork and apples because of the things they found in their trash, but it’s harder to tell if they ate them together.
Peter Brady as Humphrey Bogart: ‘Porkchops & Applesauce’ | The Brady Bunch | TV Land
FAQ
Where did the saying “pork chops and applesauce” originate?
Why is pork served with applesauce?
Where did applesauce originate?
Where did pork chops originate?