apple

The rest of the meal, fully prepared and frozen, includes mashed potatoes, gravy, macaroni and cheese, sweet corn, green-bean casserole, stuffing, cranberry relish, dinner rolls, a pumpkin pie and an apple cobbler.

The 68-year-old's collection of apples, pears, cherries, plums, peaches and almonds, grown using methods of old, are more resilient to the climate shifts and extremes seen increasingly frequently in the southern Mediterranean.

On the second floor, women sat in front of vanity desks as make-up artists powdered their faces and daintily applied blush to the apples of their cheeks.

Almost always, though, a good Chenin Blanc offers refreshingly bright acidity and aromas of pear, green apple and spice ideal for this often-weighty meal.

A spoonful of brown sugar becomes caramel as it melts; diced apples collapse into little pockets of warmth; cinnamon laces the air with something almost nostalgic.