I revere the old heritage apples. I love the idea of apple-as-time machine. Just bite to experience the flavors that were in vogue 200 years ago.
But lately I have also been hopeful about a trend in the newer apple breeds: taste.
Now comes the New York Times with a bushel of new “full flavored” apples, such as Opal, Junami, and Kanzi, all from Europe.
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| Rockit’s sweet clove flavor is distinctive. |
The Times discusses the economics of modern apple breeding and mentions a few varieties I haven’t sampled yet.
Breeders nailed the hard sweet crisp thing years ago, to the point where marketers are repeating themselves and foisting old mainstays on the public as new.
If new apple varieties are going to distinguish themselves in the marketplace, it will have to be on some other basis.
Dare we root for taste?
go taste!
ReplyDeleteYeah, Steve, you're on this, right? Remember taste, not just red flesh. :)
DeleteCan't argue with this, taste IS important!
ReplyDeleteI'm encouraged by this. Growing up in Wenatchee, WA, I had plenty of apple exposure, even to less popular varieties like criterion, Jonathan, winter banana, McIntosh, and even winesap, but it wasn't until I moved to Tennessee for university that I experienced many of the full-flavoured Eastern varieties (I've often called them old-world style, though that's not really accurate.) When I first tasted a SweeTango a few years ago I was really impressed, because it's a modern, crisp, fancy apple that tastes much like the old, flavorful ones. I hope this trend continues. I haven't tried Cosmic Crisp yet, and I've been skeptical because I despise honeycrisp, but after reading this and your review I have some hope. Maybe the big commercial orchards will start producing apples worth savoring.
ReplyDelete