GRAY MATTERS: TASTES OF CHRISTMAS
Margaret Dorr

Chronicle Times
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Dec 22 2008
IA

The Blessed Christmas Season touches all of the senses, but today let’s
consider the sense of taste. Do you remember those tasty things when
you were a child that could only mean Christmas? My mother didn’t do
a lot of baking so my rememberings are of goodies brought home from
the store. Mixed hard candies loom large.

Ribbon candy was special. I loved the way it folded back on
itself. Once inside my mouth, those folds made wee storage places out
of which I could suck the tasty juices. I dimly recall some little
pillow-shaped candies that had a mysterious filling inside.

Anyone remember what those were all about? Then there were always big
bowls of mixed nuts in their shells and I loved those. I could sit
for a long while sorting through the different varieties, cracking
and picking, savoring and enjoying.

Sometime when I was a bit older, an aunt, my mother’s sister,
introduced us to a new and unforgettable treat. They were called
Aplets. I wonder how she found out about them. I’m wondering, too,
if any of you have enjoyed this special confection. I hadn’t thought
of them for years until they appeared in a catalog from which I
sometimes order.

This led me to an internet search which brought some fascinating
information. Aplets and Cotlets are made from jellied apple or apricot
juice combined with walnuts. They replicate a popular Mid-East
confection known as "Turkish Delight." It seems that early in the
twentieth century two young Armenians fled Turkey where there was
increasing danger for their minority group.

Armen Tertsagian and Mark Balaban met in Seattle and decided to go into
business together. None of their enterprises was successful and they
hated the gray damp climate. So in 1915 they headed east and discovered
the village of Cashmere in the Wenatchee Valley in central Washington.

Here they were struck with its similarity to their homeland. The two
bought an apple farm and were soon in business. Armenian relatives
joined the family firm. One had been a chemist with a French perfume
firm so he turned his skills toward improving the products. This
amazing enterprise has remained in the family.

Greg Taylor, grandson of Tertsagian, is now the president and has been
for 30 years. In addition to the apple and apricot treats the company
now produces peach, strawberry, and orange, with walnuts; blueberry and
raspberry with pecans; and pineapple with macadamia. Consider yourself
lucky if a tin from central Washington shows up in your stocking!

Cookies were my specialty. For years, I made at least a dozen
varieties, often in double batches. I wasn’t good at rolling, cutting
and decorative icing, but I employed almost every other technique. I
had a Spritz press which was fun to use. Between my palms, I rolled
spicy dough and cut it into quantities of "pepper nuts." There were
pans of date bars, toffee squares and lemon squares.

Little balls of cookie dough were rolled into thumbprints and Russian
tea cakes, all to be doused with powdered sugar. The list goes on and
on, and my mouth is watering. Trays of cookies were often gifts from
our house.

Too, I would catch up on our entertaining obligations with many a
holiday evening with friends and relatives over cookies and coffee. It
took all of the rest to satisfy my hungry crew.

Now join me in relishing the memories of your own special tastes
of Christmas!