This is a medieval dish and may indeed have its origin in Roman Britain, since in some early forms it is very close to certain recipes of Apicius. The Harleian MS. 279 of 1430 lists ‘Pome dorreng’ in the third course of Henry IV’s coronation feast, and recipes occur in most cookery books until the nineteenth century.

The ‘apples’ were always made of finely minced pork or of pork mixed with the white meat of chicken. They were fried crisp in batter (early versions sometimes suggest t