davem,

Thanks for the article reference.  I'd love to go visit the Tien Shan myself, but a BBC Travelogue is most likely the closest I'll get!  The Silk Road has fascinated me since I was a kid (--a small child... not a baby goat).  That same general area around Kazakhstan is also where garlic apparently originated, whence it spread, like apples, east and west in Eurasia and of course to northern Africa and off to "The New World" in the age of exploration.  

I've often wondered what "Old World" cuisine was like before they got potatoes, tomatoes, peppers, summer and winter squashes....  Hah!  Reminds me of a recipe from an old Roman Cookbook by Apicius that I used to have (--loaned it to someone; never got it back--) for stuffed sow's uterus.  I'm sure they made it taste "good", but why don't ya pass me that basket of apples instead....

Tim

Very interesting reading!  I hope that specimens collected from Tien Shan will extend the disease resistance and flavors of modern apples.

Hey! Isn't Borat from Kazakhstan? "VERY NICE APPLE"