Thursday, October 31, 2013

NY 315 **

This large yellow apple looks and smells like a Golden Delicious.

It's perhaps a little more squat, and the blush, when there is one, is different, a streaky orange pink with a hint of copper.

(Golden Delicious will blush if you let her, but the effect is more solid, like this.)

The green lenticels are a little different as well.

But the classic conical shape, the moderate ribbing, and the rich cider-and-honey aroma all suggest Golden D, in the family tree if not in the flesh.

It has an open calyx and is quite firm.

The flavors are well balanced, perhaps a little sharper than those of Golden Delicious but with plenty of honeyed sweetness.

The biggest tell, for me, is the prominent banana note front and center.
This flavor pops up in apples from time to time but I can't think of another variety where it is as obvious. Certainly not Golden Delicious, which presents a different set of tastes.

I'm not shy of hard apples and find New York good and fun to eat.
NY 315 is clearly a product of the breeders at Cornell, but it must still be under evaluation because I can't learn any information about its parentage online.

Update: This apple has a nickname, and a more-detailed review, as Star Song.

New York's yellow flesh is crisp and hard, halfway between coarse and fine-grained, and pleasingly juicy.


8 comments:

  1. I am wondering if this apple is instead "NY 73334-35" (aka NY 35, Bonkers ... (Liberty x Delicious) as merchandised by Cummins Nursery in NY)?

    It doesn't show on the Cornell varieites page: http://nysaes.cals.cornell.edu/sites/nysaes.cals.cornell.edu/files/shared/documents/IMPACT-Fruit-Varieties.pdf

    HOWEVER, NY 35 shows on this page (cf. Numbered Selections). The description given sounds similar to your review.
    http://www.gardening.cornell.edu/factsheets/ecogardening/disresapple.html

    --------------------------------
    ps.

    http://www.bonappetit.com/test-kitchen/ingredients/article/how-to-taste-apples-like-a-professional

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. @anon: So, did the grower slip a "1" between the "3" and the "5"? Can't rule it out, but consider that your link to Bonkers describes "dark red fruit," which this is not.

      That very interesting list of Cornell apples only includes named varieties. For instance, NY 73335-35 (Bonkers) is not listed.

      Thank you for the apple-tasting tips!

      Delete
  2. Is it just my imagination, or do these look like the same apples?

    http://nyshs.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/apple-1816696_1920-1024x682.jpg

    Steve

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Those are pretty, do you know what they are?

      However, the mysterious 315 was not striped or streaky like those are.

      Delete
  3. Yeah they do look streakier.

    It was a pic from the New York State Horticultural Soc. page http://nyshs.org/what-single-trait-drives-research/ So I thought it might be a possible candidate. However they may have just used a generic apple picture, as I found the same picture in stock photo sites also. Either those were the source or it was lifted from NYSHS and used on those stock sites. No word yet from the NYSHS.

    ReplyDelete
  4. NY 315 is the apple as Starsong or Gold Spy.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Noel, I have tasted Star Song from an orchard in Maine.

      I suppose the differences could be due to the Maine apple being of better quality.

      Delete
  5. NY 315 from my understanding has both Golden Delicious and Northern Spy in its background. Some years ago, my father Richard Fahey of Singing Tree liked the apple and named it Star Song. Later, I saw NY 315 listed in the book: Apples of New England: A User's Guide
    Book by Russell Powell as: Gold Spy. Same apple, named indepently by two different growers.

    ReplyDelete

Join the conversation! We'd love to know what you think.