The quintessential fruit

Whether as a whole or in slices, one fruit stands above the rest in social status. (Matched only by the banana as the universal slipping agent). The apple is eaten in a multitude of ways. Even its core is given a distinctive shape by illustrators. It is connected, somehow, to teachers and often found in preschools where the children recite verbatim "A is for apple". It can be sliced up for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. For dessert (and breakfast too): add brown sugar and the heat from cooking and you create the delicious baked apple. Whether on a teacher's desk, or depicted in the mouth of a pig during a medieval feast, the apple is an example of quintessentiality.