Adam's Apples

Apples on the Web: Fruit maven

2012-01-31T21:50:00.003-05:00

Out in San Diego—far from dour new England in more than miles—the Fruit Maven holds court.

Her stylish, informative blog serves up fruit of all kinds and from different angles: recipes, drinks, even geometry.
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Junami (Milwa, Diwa)

2012-01-28T15:29:00.004-05:00

I learned of this new apple last Tuesday from a thoughtful reader's comment. Fat chance, thought I, to find it anywhere in my neck of the woods this year.

The next morning I read a short blurb about the apple in the Boston Globe; I was able to buy some that afternoon. Update: They were gone without a trace the following Sunday. Short season!
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Cheap thrills

2012-01-22T11:02:00.000-05:00

For the past week, I have been munching my way through a bag of about 18 tiny Piñata apples that I got at Trader Joes, a national supermarket chain.

(By "tiny" I mean small medium, with diameters of about 2¼ inches.)

Piñata is a great new variety with some wild flavors, and these little guys are especially hard and crisp. TJ's touts them as "baby" apples, which is brilliant (if inaccurate) marketing for apples that other retailers likely reject as too small.

At this size they are easy to snack on! And very welcome this time of year.

Apple soda

2012-01-16T20:56:00.000-05:00

These two luminous bottles arrived last month from Sidral Mundet, which has been making apple soda in Mexico for more than a hundred years. Would I please try some and say what I think?

Have I sold out? Does this belong here? My view: It's about apples, it's fair game. You have been duly warned of potential ethical conflicts. Not much else on this time of year anyway.

I am not a big soft-drink person, but have been known to spring for a bottle of Mexican soda (I like the lime) with Mexican food.

Compared to that, the Sidral (the tawny amber stuff, made with actual apple juice) is mild and unassuming, but quite good. The green-apple Manzana Verde is similar.
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Grateful greetings for the new year

2012-01-03T16:40:00.000-05:00

In 2011, as in previous years, the apples were great, but the best part was the people.

This fall I met Southern California nurseyman and blogger Kevin Hauser (he of Apples and Oranges) and his charming wife. "Met" as in the real world (heard of it?); Kevin took his apple vacation in New England this year.

I also met and swapped apples with Maine orchardist David D'Angelo and his girlfriend, of Hawk Farm. I got the better end of that exchange.

These are all folks I first connected with right here.
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Karmijn de Sonnaville (Karmine)

2011-12-30T21:15:00.010-05:00

This Dutch apple has an attractive dark orange-red blush over a muted green that blends with sandpaper-colored russet. Large lenticels are similarly russeted.

I've only got one sample, a large medium or small large, but have no idea how typical its size may may be.

Karmijn de Sonnaville is an offspring of the exceptional Cox's Orange Pippin and shares some of its qualities. The flesh is fine grained and light yellow, and the flavors are balanced but with some acidity. Some Cox-like flavors, such as orange and mango, pair with a peppery spiciness.

Compared to Cox's Karmine tastes more acid and spicy and lacks Cox's nutty qualities. It's a first-rate apple with flavors that are big, bold, and lively. More of this sort of thing, please!
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Black Oxford redux

2011-12-25T15:42:00.001-05:00

David D'Angelo of Hawk Farm in Maine gave me a few of these earlier this year, the best examples I have had yet.

I'm not replacing my 2010 tasting notes for Black Oxford, but here is a post script.

These were nice and dark, a deep red with both purple and mahogany overtones. Many light lenticels of varying sizes are sprinkled across the dark like stars in the night sky. Biting in shows dense white flesh with streaks of red from the richly colored peel.
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Where the good stuff is

2011-12-23T12:56:00.000-05:00

If you enjoy this blog but skip comments from your fellow readers you have been missing out. Especially this fall.

We've had tasting notes from all over and check-ins from orchardists and writers far more knowledgeable than I.
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Terroir

2011-12-21T21:56:00.000-05:00

Today we borrow a word from the Very Serious World of wine and ask, Is it a useful way to think about apples?
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Maiden's Blush

2011-12-18T21:15:00.001-05:00

This small medium apple is light yellow, sometimes with a green undertone.

The eponymous blush is a very light orange red wash with specks of intense color. The result is like a poorly mixed oil-and-water emulsion or flecks of pigment in oil.

It's a very striking effect.

Maiden's lenticels are small, sparse, and dark; some in the blush are stained a deep saturated red. My sample also bears a corona of russet in and around the stem well and the usual superficial blemishes.

The apple is firm in hand with a sweet fruity aroma.
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Star Song

2011-12-16T11:27:00.001-05:00

Oops, no photo for this one! So, picture a big yellow apple, ribbed, with a very partial light orange blush that is streaky.

David D'Angelo, an apple farmer from Maine, shared one of these with me in November. Our sample has cracked a bit around the crown where the apple grew too fast "like an heirloom tomato," as David said.

There are large dark lenticels and a cidery aroma with more than a hint of the Golden Delicious.

Star Song has light yellow flesh, fine-grained, with mild well-balanced qualities that showcase a hit of banana and, we agreed, something else tropical (though we could not lay our tastebuds around exactly what).
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Pomme Gris vs. Ashmead's Kernel smackdown

2011-12-12T12:51:00.002-05:00

Pomme Gris (left) meets Ashmead's Kernel in a medley of fall colors

I was lucky this fall to bag two superlative russet varieties, Pomme Gris and Ashmead's Kernel. These were the best examples of these varieties I have ever had.

So which is best?
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King David

2011-12-09T14:43:00.002-05:00

A nice tart apple, but also a reminder to take my reviews with a grain of salt.

Today's heirloom is small and classically shaped with very little ribbing. Its red blush, streaky to saturated, covers half to most of the yellow-green peel. David's lenticels are small, dark on the green and light on the blush.

Squeezing one feels very firm, and there is a faint mossy smell.

The flesh of King David is medium-fine-grained and white shot with green. This apple has a great crunch and is a little chewy.

For taste, there is refreshing tartness balanced by some sweet, along with some active acidity. Cane sugar and lime notes leave a nice clean feeling in my mouth.

I'd want one of these guys as a chaser or as part of a medley of apples. Despite the acidity I nibbled David down to the core.
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Wild apples from the Father of Apples to the Big Apple

2011-12-08T11:13:00.003-05:00

An alert reader notes the following account of a project that is planting wild apples from Khazakhstan in New York City.

Apples are from Kazakhstan, where the name of the capital city, Almaty, comes from an older name meaning "Father of Apples."

The New York Times's Matt Flegenheimer details a tree planting on Randall's Island, in the East River across from 100 to 125 St.

The project reminds me just a little of the Boston Tree Party around here.

Hooray for civic fruit!

Hear Cox's Orange Pippin rattle

2011-12-05T22:00:00.001-05:00

The seeds of Cox's Orange Pippin are said to rattle inside the apple. However, I've never found one with pips that did.

Until now.

I am pleased to bring you this sound, probably an internet first.

Click to play, or download the audio file.
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Lady Apple (Api)

2011-12-03T20:11:00.000-05:00

Today's apple may be the oldest variety I ever will taste. These are crab-apple sized and when Lady is bearing her branches are festooned with small fruit so thick as to resemble garlands of apples.

A garland of Ladies contra-dance against the October sky

A closer look at this ancient variety below the fold.
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Pippin

2011-12-01T10:56:00.002-05:00

Although this word is sometimes just a synonym for apple, especially one that is green and tart, pippin's pomological meaning is an apple grown from seed. Not grafted. Wild, even.

Newton Pippin

(It also is slang for a person or thing that is exemplary, a corker, a right good one. Another meaning is just a pip, a seed.)

In its apple sense pippin is the opposite of the word cultivar, a plant variety developed and propagated via human cultivation.

Simple enough, if you don't look too closely. But think about it and your brain will itch. Because those pippins we know and love? They are all propagated by grafting.
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Reine de Reinettes (King of the Pippins)

2011-11-29T17:18:00.002-05:00

This apple's name means--oh wait, no it doesn't. (And shouldn't that be des Reinettes?)

Etymological questions aside, I have two of these, both on the small side of large, round, slightly oblate, with the merest hint of ribbing.

Both have significant russeting on the unblushed peel, which is a muted green-yellow.
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Sweetango (Minneiska)

2011-11-27T11:29:00.001-05:00

No new apple has had the buildup and ballyhoo enjoyed by today's variety. I have been hearing about it for years.

Today we'll learn if Sweetango lives up to its reputation.

Sweetango is breathtakingly beautiful. The glazed red blush of many of the the samples I saw ran strikingly deep and dark on the sunward side, though elsewhere the color is more of a pink wash tinged a bit orange, no doubt from the underlying yellow of the peel.
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Tarte aux yum

2011-11-25T18:32:00.003-05:00

When I saw those Calville Blancs at Farmers Market the day before Thanksgiving, I knew I had to bake a real tarte aux pommes.

My first tarte aux pommes

Despite the black bits this was a delicious holiday desert, and what really made it so were the apples.
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Pomme de reinette et pomme d'api

2011-11-23T12:04:00.004-05:00

Pomme Gris and Lady Apple

There's an old French children's rhyme, nowadays rendered as follows:

Pomme de reinette et pomme d'api
Tapis, tapis rouge
Pomme de reinette et pomme d'api
Tapis, tapis gris.

In English:

Pippin Apple and Lady Apple,
Carpet, red carpet,
Pippin Apple and Lady Apple,
Carpet, gray carpet.

describing a carpet ("tapis") of red and gray apples lying on the ground. Russets perhaps, for the gray.
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Hunt Russet

2011-11-19T20:36:00.001-05:00

Medium-sized, large for a russet, this apple has a rough golden jacket over bright green peel. Some blushed stripes peep though at intervals, and a small patch of dull red blush is mostly russet free.

Lenticels are also full of russet and really only noticeable in the blush, though they do bulge out slightly into small tactile bumps.

Foolishly I held on to this one a few weeks longer than I needed and there's a bit of give to it when I squeeze, but russets can hold up marvelously and it is only November 12.

Hunt's texture is yielding but still good, fine-grained flesh shot with green highlights. Not super juicy but full of sugary flavor enlivened by some sprightly tartness. The usual russet flavors of pear and cane sugar are well presented, and also a hint of lemonade, a nice touch.
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Domine (Dominie)

2011-11-18T08:44:00.001-05:00

The larger of my two samples is medium big, classically shaped (though lopsided) with just a hint of ribbing. The smaller sample is oblate. On both, a dull red blush covers nearly all the yellow-green surface to differing degrees of streaky translucency. Tan lenticels of varying sizes irregularly mark the surface.

The larger apple had a few soft spots, from handling or perhaps Tropical Storm Irene, and was generally inferior. That's the one I photographed, but my tasting notes are based on the smaller, better Domine.

That one's flesh is medium-grained, white with a greenish cast. It's got a crunch, though a yielding one, and the peel is chewy but not bad. Domine's flavors are well-balanced with some sprightly tartness. It's a slightly vinous and there is also a little acidity, but there's also a good portion of initial sweetness, along with vanilla and spice.
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Apple clubs versus the tyranny of the market

2011-11-16T16:55:00.002-05:00

Last year a reader asked about the practice of "managed varieties," restricting to a cartel the rights to grow the hottest new apples.

Also called club apples, the licenses to grow these fruits fund the marketing that helps to create demand for them (or, if you like, that brings them gently before a discerning public).

Meanwhile another reader was already looking at club apples and their implications for agriculture, and this week he published his work in the New Yorker.

John Seabrook ("Crunch") tells a fascinating story that includes a brief history of the fruit before zeroing in on the apple club that grows Sweetango, heir (apparently) to Honeycrisp. His enthusiasm for this crisp and flavorful variety is infectious.
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Clubs and the future of apples

2011-11-15T12:09:00.006-05:00

For must-read apple journalism look no further than the November 21 issue of the New Yorker, where John Seabrook explores apples and the American apple industry.

His "Crunch" includes an engaging description of the modern apple-breeding program of the University of Minnesota, touching on the phenomenal success of UMinn's Honeycrisp and giving us a farmer's-eye view of the apple business.

This telling quote from Dennis Courtier, a Minnesota orchardist: "It doesn't matter if the apple is green on the inside, when the market is telling you that color is more important than taste."
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Calville Blanc d'Hiver (Calville Blanche)

2011-11-13T21:45:00.002-05:00

This legendary French pastry apple is not really for eating out of hand. But eat we must.

Calville is a large medium (or small large) apple with pronounced, even exaggerated, ribbing. It is yellow tinged with green and there is a partial blush over perhaps a quarter if the peel. Large green lenticels are prominent though not in the blush. In hand the unbroken fruit feels firm and solid and smells of pear and bananas.

Inside Calville Blanc is a light yellow with a tender crunch, fine-grained and dense. Its flavor balance tilts slightly to the tart but there is sweetness too, to frame pear flavors with a hint of banana in the finish. There are also some unusual salty, mineral notes.
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Knobbed Russet

2011-11-11T17:04:00.001-05:00

Its brooding appearance is daunting, but this was far from the most grotesque sample of this unusual apple. Others were so deformed as to be unrecognizable as part of any living organism, let alone as an apple.

Instead, the medium-sized sample I chose shows a little of everything: Yellow skin, mottled translucent orange blush, and disfiguring russet. Or perhaps its knobby bulges are not related to the russet at all. Small lenticels, where visible, are mostly russeted.

Where not deformed this apple seems to be modestly ribbed. Its calyx is open and it feels firm and solid. It glowers.

As I contemplate this unusual variety, I wonder: What if this is not just a curiosity? What if it's really good?

Only one way to find out.
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Stayman ages well

2011-11-10T22:07:00.004-05:00

I just ate my last Stayman, left over from early October. It had improved with age.

Still wonderfully breaking crisp and very juicy, spicy with some savory notes I had missed when I sampled these in October of 2008.

I wish I had a few more of these! Now I know.

I've updated my 2008 review of Stayman.

Eat like a pirate

2011-11-09T07:37:00.002-05:00

I grew up, pre–video console, loving board games of all kinds. Roll the dice. Spin the spinner. Take a card. Collect $200. Advance around the game board, tap tap tap.

One such that has not survived into the present day was Milton Bradley's Pirate and Traveler. It was really two different games in one.
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Belle de Boskoop

2011-11-06T10:39:00.002-05:00

The appearance of this apple, subdued yellow-green mottled by russet, with a splash of translucent red blush, is not promising.

Belle de Boskoop is a large medium-sized apple with a slight amount of ribbing and a sweet cider aroma.

Light lenticels are not obvious except where russeted over.

Her flesh is a bit yielding, light yellow and halfway between fine and coarse-grained. The flavors are generally pleasant, for there is a decent amount of tartness to balance the pure cane-sugar sweetness.

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Creston

2011-11-03T19:55:00.003-04:00

These run large to very large, though not tall, and are conical to a nearly top-heavy extent.

A translucent red blush covers about half of the peel, which is otherwise yellow tinted with a little green. The underlying yellow gives the blush an orange cast but it is subdued.

Small lenticels are also understated (except when russeted), presenting as green against the yellow and an almost invisible tan against the blush.

Creston smells sweet and rich like a Golden Delicious, Creston's dam.
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Lamb Abbey Pearmain

2011-10-31T08:51:00.001-04:00

I have two of these, quite small, one crabapple-sized. Will they be enough?

These are classically shaped with barely detectable ribbing and a streaky red blush over yellow-green.

The lenticels show light against the blush and faintly green on the naked peel.

One sample, shown, has a crown of russet radiating about its stem well. The aroma is sweet and complex, but I can't isolate scents.
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The apple harvest takes a bow

2011-10-28T13:12:00.001-04:00

Yesterday, Volante Farms in Needham, Mass. was selling an astounding 28 varieties of apples, while they last. If you live in eastern Massachusetts, go there now.
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Not with a bang

2011-10-27T20:35:00.000-04:00

"We're freezing out here."--Overheard today at farmers market.

It didn't snow, but the last day of farmers market in Belmont was bleak and raw.

Belmont followed the end of Arlington, which followed Lexington for the year this week.
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Paw Paw

2011-10-27T08:42:00.003-04:00

A fruit named, seemingly, for another fruit.

I have two examples of Paw Paw, and while the one in my photo is less round and more blushed, both are medium-sized apples with a streaky red blush and many large light lenticels.

The red streaks are deep and dark in places, a quality my camera just will not capture. The peel has a glossy finish and the unblushed part is spring green.

The flesh of one sample is dense and fine grained, white noticeably tinted with green. It's crisp, nearly breaking, and is mild and well-balanced with no acidity.
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Season's greetings

2011-10-25T17:46:00.001-04:00

Nothing to say today, but had to share these seasonably dark and lovely Sisters of Fortune.

Red Canada

2011-10-24T19:26:00.001-04:00

Red Canada is round with some ribbing and a deep stem well. A thin red blush covers about two thirds of otherwise spring green, and many large green lenticels cover the surface. The apple has a sweet aroma.

(A second sample, shown, is smaller and more oblate, with a blush that is stronger, deeper, and more complete.)

Red has fine-grained white flesh tinged with green, crisp though not quite breaking. It is pleasantly balanced and mild with cane sugar, kiwi, and a little light caramel note. The peel adds a chewy vegetable touch at the end of each bite. This is an agreeable apple that anyone should be able to enjoy.
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Granite Beauty

2011-10-22T11:21:00.002-04:00

This October apple is a large medium, slightly ribbed and slightly conical, with a streakey red blush that mostly covers spring green. On one sample the small light lenticels have rusetted over and are prominent, but not on the other.

Inside, the Granite Beauty has crisp (but not breaking) snow-white flesh with green highlights, and its taste is correspondingly balanced, with some tart accents. Flavors feature some spicy floral notes and a vinous quality, and there is an echo of cream soda towards the end.
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The season turns

2011-10-21T12:36:00.001-04:00

The past fortnight has been tremendous for apples. At Farmers Market you can choose from more than a score varieties, and many unexpected heirlooms have cropped up in the hinterlands.

Some choices at the Belmont market yesterday

This week there were 23 different apples for sale at the Arlington Farmers Market, 26 in Belmont.

But this sustained, ecstatic crescendo masks a profound shift. In a week most of the harvest will be in and these markets will have folded their tabernacles for the year.

The haul in Belmont yesterday: Baldwin, Cameo, Cortland, Empire, Fuji, Gala, Gingergold, Golden Delicious, Golden Russet, Granny Smith, Honeycrisp, Jonagold, Jonathan, Liberty, Macoun, McIntosh, Melrouge, Mutsu, Paula Red, Red Delicious, Shamrock, Sister of Fortune, Spencer, Stayman, and Swiss Gourmet.

Get them while you can.

Deacon Jones

2011-10-20T08:03:00.002-04:00

Tower Hill (which conserves this heirloom variety) describes Deacon Jones as medium-sized, but my sample is larger than that. It's elongated, even conical, and just a little ribbed.

The Deacon's green peel is half covered with a brick-red blush decorated with many tan lenticels that are all but invisible in the unblushed green.

The skin is matt rather than glossy and the fruit has a staid beauty, quite solid in hand, with a sweet aroma of cut grass.

The flesh of this fruit is dense and fine-grained, white, and crisp but a little yielding. The peal is chewy and dominates the end of each bite perhaps a bit too much. Deacon's flavors are mild and sweet and pleasant, with no acidity. There is a little melon and seedless grapes, and a third flavor that is something like this.
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McLellan

2011-10-18T07:54:00.003-04:00

Tower Hill asserts that this antique apple is named for the famous Civil War general, but that seems unlikely.

My two samples are a medium and a large medium, each with a red blush (translucent to saturated) that almost entirely covers a light yellow. The fruit smells sweetly of cider.

McLellan's flesh, white and fine-grained, has a soft crunch with light cantaloupe flavors, vinous highlights, and a hint of honey. Its delicacy is overwhelmed by a chewy peel. Overall, nicely balanced, though the crunch could be more assertive.
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Wolf River

2011-10-16T09:58:00.003-04:00

After hearing about this variety for years, I am pleased finally to sample one. Wolf River is big, in more ways than one. Will it prove more than I can chew?
It's a hefty apple. My sample's 12-inch waist line nears King Luscious proportions, though the round, slightly ribbed fruit is somewhat squat and thus less massive than if perfectly spherical.

Wolf River has an attractive red blush that is streaky over a light greenish yellow; the streaks are quite dark in places. The surface is decorated with many light tan lenticels that vary in size.
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Kearsarge

2011-10-14T11:27:00.002-04:00

This variety only grows at Gould Hill Farm in Hopkinton, New Hampshire, where it originates.

The large and slightly blocky apple is ribbed, with a streaky red blush over perhaps a third of its otherwise spring-green surface. Green lenticels are not prominent but show as light against the blush and dark elsewhere. Its calyx is quite clenched, and it smells pleasantly sweet-tart.

Kearsarge's flesh is somewhat yielding, a light creamy yellow, medium-grained and reasonably juicy. It has mild balanced flavors: sweet cider and a faint hint of pear. A very small amount of acidity and a weak bitter note (perhaps from the peel) are enlivening and confer a little spicy character.
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Twenty-four apples at one farmers market

2011-10-12T16:15:00.003-04:00

No photo today, just a quick report (with lovingly hand-crafted links) of all the apples for sale at the Arlington (Mass.) Farmers market:

Baldwin, Blushing Golden, Cameo, Cortland, Empire, Gala, Gingergold, Golden Delicious, Golden Russet, Honeycrisp, Jonagold, Jonathan, Liberty, Macoun, McIntosh, Melrouge, Mutsu, Paula Red, Red Delicious, Roxbury Russet, Shamrock, Spencer, Stayman, and (pant pant) Swiss Gourmet.

And that's not counting the Asian Pears.

There will probably be even more varieties at Belmont's market tomorrow afternoon.

What a great time of year. Get out there and eat!

Jonafree apple

2011-10-11T18:16:00.001-04:00

The blush of this small medium-sized apple runs from streaky to saturated, where it can be a true deep red. It is round with some ribbing and small light lenticels that are widely spaced.

Jonafree's flesh is satisfyingly crunchy and juicy, a coarse-grained yellow. It is firm and crisp enough to break off into delightful chunks. The flavor is sweet with balancing tartness showcasing simple rich fruity flavors with perhaps hints of cane sugar, pineapple, and, briefly early on in the chew, bananas.
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A feast for the eyes

2011-10-10T13:48:00.006-04:00

Toronto apple enthusiast Suzanne Long has a wonderful set of photos from an apple tasting in Dobbington, Ontario last weekend (the Canadian thanksgiving).

Suzanne writes she is

still reeling from Saturday's road trip to a new-to-me grower's tasting. An almost overwhelming list of old varieties I'd only read about.

Update: Suzanne writes

the tasting was at O'Keefe Grange, owned by Bill and Lyn O'Keefe, the wonderful hosts of the annual Thanksgiving apple tasting.

Honeycrisp vs. Topaz smackdown

2011-10-09T19:27:00.002-04:00

Two modern varieties, products of breeding programs rather than chance.

At left towers Honeycrisp, the popular sugar bomb that is taking the market by storm. The much-less-well-known challenger at right is Topaz, David to Honeycrisp's Goliath.

I pit them against each other because both bring outstandingly crisp, juicy flesh--and fundamentally different flavors.
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Priscilla

2011-10-07T22:14:00.003-04:00

This large ribbed apple sports a blush that runs to a deep brick red where saturated. Her small lenticels are pink; you must look closely to find them at all.

My sample, besides the usual cosmetic belemishes, is not in the best shape, with a few bruises and soft spots that are perhaps souvenirs of Tropical Storm Irene. Indeed my first bite was mealy, but fortunately not representative. Priscilla's calyx is closed and the fruit has a faint cidery smell.
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Hard apple cider American style

2011-10-06T10:43:00.001-04:00

Bon Apetite's Andrew Knowlton sampled 50 American hard ciders and picks four tasty favorites.

Cider used to be at least as big a deal here as in the United Kingdom but never recovered from Prohibition. Today in the States the word "cider" refers to the sweet unfermented version as it comes from the cider press.

I've enjoyed some French ciders (and poiré (perry), pressed from pears), but have been underwhelmed by domestic brews. Of course, it helps to know what to drink.

These are welcome signposts to new-world cider, from Oregon to Michigan to New York to New Hampshire.

Sweet Sixteen

2011-10-05T07:59:00.005-04:00

This medium-sized apple is mostly round with just a hint of ribbing. Its pretty red blush, streaky for the most part, is faintly marked with light lenticels that vary in size; the unblushed peel is a pale yellow tinted with green. Its calyx is clenched shut.

Sweet Sixteen's flesh, coarse-grained and dripping with juice, is a light apricot yellow. Its flavors are mild, generally sweet with a little tempering tartness. Lush fruity cider flavors and cane sugar predominate, with the merest hint of spice and wine around the edges.

Although Sixteen is sweet, there is enough going on that it does not cloy as so many modern varieties do.

The extreme juiciness of the coarse-grained flesh and the striking orange-yellow color, which suggest a stone fruit, are unusual and attractive. One corespondent finds a hint of anise in the flavor mix, but for whatever reason I could not.
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Mcintosh vs. Honeycrisp Smackdown

2011-10-03T10:43:00.000-04:00

Left to right: McIntosh, Honeycrisp. Click photo for close-up.

On the left, "the Mac," McIntosh, an Ontario foundling, for decades the preeminent apple of the Northeast, successor to Baldwin, sire (and mother) of many varieties, vinous, sweet, and tart.

And looming large at right, from the breeding program of the Minnesota Agricultural Experiment Station, surging in popularity, the younger, bigger, and much much sweeter Honeycrisp.

Of all my pairings, this head-to-head must be my most antagonistic. Not only is upstart Honeycrisp stealing market share from the venerable Mac, but the Province of Nova Scotia has deployed the big guy as a pomicidal weapon, paying farmers to rip out McIntosh trees and plant Honeycrisp.

This is a real grudge match.
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Crimson Crisp

2011-09-30T09:56:00.002-04:00

True to its name, this medium-to-medium-large apple has a lovely pure red blush.

The color, a shade less orange than in my photo, can be deep and even dark on the sunward side but unlike some well-colored varieties is not purple.

Tan lenticels, though numerous, are so small as to be hard to see, making for a very red apple.

The fruit is classically shaped with some ribbing.

Also true to its name, this apple has wonderfully breaking crisp flesh, light yellow, which is firm and dense, even hard, and more fine-grained than coarse. It holds a lot of juice and has a very good sweet-tart balance.
Read more »

So you like McIntosh

2011-09-27T10:12:00.013-04:00

If you read this in September and are enjoying McIntosh, you are in good company. This quintessential New England apple, crisp, flavorful, and juicy with plenty of sugar and tart, is a classic.

But what do you eat in October or August? And what other apples might you like?

If you don't know, or would like to broaden your horizons, here are my suggestions.
Read more »

26 apple varieties in one day

2011-09-25T20:59:00.002-04:00

Today I could have bought 26 different kinds of apples at 4 different farm stands. 28 if you count all 3 versions of Cortland as separate varieties.

I was not so extravagant as that, but the choices this time of year are great!
Read more »

Early Jonagold

2011-09-24T10:08:00.002-04:00

In August there re many different apples sold as "Early Mac," none of them McIntosh. In the same spirit Hutchins Farm calls this September apple an "Early Jonagold" after the Jonathan–Golden Delicious cross.

So: not a Jonagold that was picked too soon, but a different variety altogether.

Mine is hefty with a streaky, even blotchy, red blush over yellow. This gives an orange tinge though perhaps a shade less so than my photo implies.

Early J is decorated with many irregularly placed light lenticels. The surface is also slightly dimpled, like a Honeycrisp.
Read more »

Elstar vs. Lucky Rose Golden smackdown

2011-09-21T21:19:00.002-04:00

Two apples from the vast family tree of Golden Delicious, both ready about the same time in September, both medium-sized yellow with pretty blushes. Here's how they stack up.

Read more »

Green Crisp

2011-09-18T15:55:00.005-04:00

"Green Crisp" is very apt. But the truth is that not even the grower knows the true name of this apple, or even if it has one.

Green Crisp is a lovely light spring green, conical and ribbed. It is a medium-to-medium-large apple with small dark lenticels that are not obvious, except where russetted. The fruit feels quite firm and smells faintly of moss

Inside is firm white flesh, crisp and pleasantly juicy, that is halfway between fine-grained and coarse.

Its balanced flavors are somewhat attenuated, after the style of a Gingergold or Mutsu, though more assertive. These tastes include a citric zing, with a little lime and a whiff of vanilla and wine in the background. Think Vino Verde, the simple light "green" (white) wine of Portugal.

Some of these flavors might be offensive were they stronger, but light Greencrisp strikes a refreshing balance, with a cool astringent finish. Have another!
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So you like Honeycrisp

2011-09-15T09:41:00.000-04:00

Introduced in 1991, this sweet, crisp apple has taken the fruit world by storm.

If you read these words in September, now is your chance to enjoy Honeycrisp at peak.

But, may I interest you in some other crisp, sweet apples? Variety is the spice of life.

Besides, how do you know you like Honeycrisp best if you never try anything else?
Read more »

Why is an apple like an opera?

2011-09-12T10:43:00.000-04:00

Greetings Adam,

I'm wondering if I might be able to use one of your photographs for an image for an opera production I'm doing (very soon) in NYC.

The above in my in-box last month, and of course I had to say yes.

But yes to what, exactly? What could one of my apples possibly have to do with a production of Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro, to be staged in Bryant Park at 12:30 pm on September 19?

As it turns out, this will be a performance of the first two acts of the opera only.

But the question still remains: Why is half an apple like half an opera?
Read more »

Summer Pippin (Greening Sour)

2011-09-08T21:01:00.002-04:00

Locust Grove Farm in Milton New York grows this apple and calls it Summer Pippin. I have my doubts about the name, but a box of these big green beauties at the Union Square farmers' market (New York) commands attention.

This large apple is a saturated bright spring green, reminiscent of Granny Smith's unglazed hue. It's ribbed and lumpy, with a little russet radiating from the stem well and dotted with white lenticels. The firm fruit has a faint sweet smell.

The flesh is a dense white tinged with light green, a little yielding to the teeth. The taste is predominantly tart with some sweet, not as complex as a Granny Smith but reminiscent. There is some bracing acidity and a hint of unripe grapes.

Finally, there is a faint sweet citrusy aftertaste. Whatever you call it, this apple is both unusual and refreshing.
Read more »

McIntosh vs. Novamac Smackdown

2011-09-06T22:15:00.001-04:00

McIntosh (left, above) is the New England fall classic, more than a century old, that ripens in September. Novamac (right), half Mac itself, is the upstart from Nova Scotia that shows its face 1 or 2 weeks earlier.

Spoiler: Nobody touches the Mac (except maybe Macoun, and that is debatable). But the point is not to replace McIntosh but to see how well Novamac lives up to the second half of its name.
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Novamac vs. Paula Red smackdown

2011-09-04T19:40:00.000-04:00

From the start of the apple season in July to the debut of McIntosh in September, many varieties vie for the title of "early Mac." Most of these are unsuccessful, but there are two that I like: Paula Red and Novamac.

This year Paula has had an unusually long season and overlaps with Nova. So, which is most Mac-like? And which is best?
Read more »

After the storm

2011-09-03T14:54:00.003-04:00

The first sight that greeted my eyes at Hutchins Farm (in Concord, Mass.) two days after Tropical Storm Irene were trees full of apples clustered like grapes.

I'd worried about the trees, and the apples, in the blow that we got.

Mac's Apples, in southern New Hampshire, had reported that "well-pruned trees heavy with fruit were very stable," but it was reassuring to see for myself.

To underscore the good news, a chalkboard at Hutchins made this cheerful report:

Made it through Irene with only minimal damage--hope everyone fared as well!

Novamac

2011-08-31T22:01:00.002-04:00

Two days after Irene, the trees at Hutchins Farm were, thankfully, still full of rippening fruit.

The farm's first apple of the season, Novamac, was ready to eat.

This Nova Scotia–bred variety is medium to small, though I did see one large one in the bin. The squat oblate shape seems characteristic.

Its blush, over a lively spring green, is a cheerful red, streaky at points but well-saturated on the sunward side. Small tan lenticels, widely-spaced, provide a visual accent; some in my photo are russeted.

Inside is crisp creamy-white flesh, more or less fine-grained. The balance is good: noticeable tartness is met by a good bit of sugar, though there is enough acidity to be bracing.
Read more »

Irene, goodnight

2011-08-27T23:00:00.003-04:00

Though it's a big storm coming, and though we live right next to a flood zone, I am not too worried about home and family safety.

Rather, my thought have dwelt on the fate of this year's unharvested apple crop, which lies right in the hurricane's path.

And, I am not alone.
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Summer bounty

2011-08-26T21:34:00.001-04:00

Bins of apples at Volante Farms (map) earlier today.

On the menu: Gravenstein, Gingergold, Empress, Jersey Mac, Paula Red, and Zestar.

Too many farmers markets?

2011-08-23T11:17:00.000-04:00

Just as Massachusetts celebrates Farmers Market Week come fears that there are too many markets.

Writing from Western Mass. for the New York Times, Katie Zezima reports that in some parts of the country farmers complain of a glut of markets.

Some farmers say small new markets have lured away loyal customers and cut into profits. Other farmers say they must add markets to their weekly rotation to earn the same money they did a few years ago, reducing their time in the field and adding employee hours.

So you like Red Delicious

2011-08-21T12:44:00.003-04:00

Do you love Red Delicious? This popular variety is available in supermarkets year round

But, is it really the best? With so many other varieties, are you sure that there isn't one you haven't tried that you would like even more?

Probably, you know what you don't like: apples too tart or bold or hard or weird, mealy apples, apples you'd regret eating. A shame, though, to let fear of bad apples keep you from exploring this wonderful fruit.

May I help?
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Celebrating endangered Gravenstein

2011-08-12T11:26:00.002-04:00

This weekend will mark the annual Gravenstein Apple Fair in Sebastepol, California.

But, the LA Times reports, Gravenstein trees in Sonoma County, California are falling prey to developers and more-profitable grapes.

The 20 square miles of Gravensteins that once covered the local hills are now reduced to one, and the remaining trees also would have succumbed to chain saws were it not for the matchless flavor of their fruits and the determination of a small band of farmers and preservationists.

Lodi vs. Gingergold smackdown

2011-08-10T19:15:00.001-04:00

Two early-season light-green apples. Lodi (at left) is a small medium, slightly conical and ribbed, with faint green lenticels. In lieu of a blush, the sun-touched region is a shade more yellow.
Gingergold (right) is medium-to-large, a slightly darker hue of Lodi's green. Its shape is similar, with more-prominent ribs ending in distinct bumps at the base.

The lenticels are similarly indistinct areas of a darker green, though on both apples some lenticels are defined by a small dark speck at the center. Gingergold's blush can run to a pronounced streaky orange pink.

Lodi's appearance is more delicate; Gingergold's, more substantial.

In terms of flavor, the opposite is true.
Read more »

Sonya (Nevson)

2011-08-08T17:01:00.001-04:00

The happy start of the apple harvest is not when I expected to discover a new (to me) variety from New Zealand at the supermarket. Nonetheless Sonya has finally made it to New England.

Since this is another modern apple bred for export, I begin with a few preconceptions. This apple will be sweet, crisp, and juicy, satisfying but in many ways interchangeable with its sweet, crisp & juicy brethren such as Jazz, Gala, and so forth.

Jaded and cynical I know. But go ahead, New Zealand Apple Empire, surprise me with something different.
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@adapples

2011-08-02T16:42:00.002-04:00

I've begun posting about apples on Twitter, the 140-character-limit news-and-networking service, under the name @adapples.
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Late Mutsu

2011-07-30T22:33:00.010-04:00

Update: These are last year's Mutsus, stored very well. Of course.

That was my first guess when I saw them at Farmers Market last week.

But when the seller insisted they were fresh picked, I entertained some bizarre theories (below) consistent with that.

This week the grower himself was at the market and he told me the truth.
Read more »

Weak week of early apples

2011-07-28T23:05:00.000-04:00

On Monday I bicycled to the Bedford Farmers Market. Only one vendor there sells apples and I was not surprised that he had none yet.

On Tuesday I went likewise to Lexington's Farmers Market, which includes three apple farmers. One had these Vista Bellas, frequently first out of the gate here.

Unfortunately these were early at best. One was white-pipped-spongey-fleshed unripe; another was just very green and tart.
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Disappointment and relief

2011-07-21T14:00:00.003-04:00

Disappointment, because there are no apples at Farmers market yet. Last year I got the first local apples of the year on July 14.

Relief because last year's early crop, following an exceptionally early spring, proved to the the harbinger of a poor harvest.

So, one more week to go!

Apples of June (2011)

2011-07-15T14:39:00.001-04:00

The crop of southern-hemisphere apples that usually arrives in late April or May was, at last, in full cry in June.

I don't know whether it is freshness or terrior or something else, but the Chilean Granny Smiths were much better--crisper, more complex--than their Washington State counterparts.
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Fall's last hurrah

2011-06-30T20:14:00.000-04:00

I saved out one last russet apple from the fall and ate it today, the last of June.

The apple was yielding in my hand, and its skin was wrinkled and smelled mossy. It looked like a little rotting pumpkin.

But the flesh was sound and the flavors were wonderfully sweet, wildly concentrated pear and honey like ice wine after the freeze.

What had seemed an unpromising idea for a blog post (written to you, dear reader) turned out to be, like so much else, a surprise and a treat.

Two great apple resources are merging

2011-06-27T16:15:00.000-04:00

All About Apples of the U.S.A. and Orange Pippin of the U.K. are joining forces.

The two web sites will provide an online catalog of more than 600 varieties, tightly integrated with information about where each kind is grown, a tree registry, and other information.

The integrated content will be hosted at orangepippin.com.
Read more »

Do not adjust your set

2011-06-21T09:23:00.000-04:00

These two apples from the past year really look this way:

These are, left to right, San Rosé and Rienette Simirenko (aka Woods Greening).

They do look distorted, don't they? Not what the eye expects. They are true photos though: the Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy of my collection.

I could tweak these images to make them look "normal." It would just require me to edit the html for this post and change four numbers.

But, that would be wrong.

Oh heck, I'll do it.
Read more »

Apples top pesticide list

2011-06-13T12:42:00.000-04:00

Scott Kilman, writing in today's Wall Street Journal, put it this way:

The apple industry faces a potential public-relations headache in the wake of federal testing that found pesticide residues in 98% of America's second-most-popular fresh fruit, the highest rate among the produce screened by the U.S. Department of Agriculture in a yearly survey. (More»)

These results prompted the nonprofit Environmental Working Group to recommend organic apples and to rate conventional apples as the worst of 12 most-contaminated fruits and vegetables. (Celery and strawberries are close behind; onions, sweet corn, and pineapple are the cleanest).
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New ways to slice these apples

2011-06-09T12:07:00.002-04:00

Blogger has invented some new ways to view this blog.
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Apples of May (2011)

2011-06-02T14:45:00.002-04:00

May is not a very distinguished month for apples, and this year's (despite a few surprises) was not a very distinguished May.

The local harvest is a distant memory, and for whatever reason the usual flood of apples from Chile and New Zealand is still but a trickle. I've come to take these apples for granted; their grown-in-the-USA alternatives are a bit long in the tooth this time of year.

If you are hungry for an apple in May (or any time in the off-season, really), check out my picks of the best supermarket alternatives. If you really miss Fall's bounty, console yourself with this guide to the off-season choices based on your harvest-season favorites.
Read more »

Stamens akimbo

2011-05-26T20:17:00.002-04:00

No longer a flower and not yet a fruit, may each proto-apple grow into fall's bounty.

This May 25 close up shows the same trees as this earlier view (May 13) at Nagog Hill Farm.

Bloomin' wonderful

2011-05-17T19:49:00.001-04:00

Apples bloom at Nagog Farm on May 13.

Where last year's blossoms came early, this year the orchards are just approaching peak by mid-May.

A week of cool wet weather has settled in over much of New England; let's hope the blossoms stick around long enough to let wind and bees do their thing.

A postcard for Miss Baldwin

2011-05-13T21:20:00.001-04:00

Elaine Luck, a collector and dealer of vintage postcards, sent me this delightful image and asked me a question about it that I could not answer.

Elaine wants to know the meaning of the card and the significance of "Miss Baldwin." She says the card, which was mailed in 1914, was part of a printed set of Halloween postcards.
Read more »

Apples of April (2011)

2011-05-02T11:23:00.001-04:00

I found myself leaning heavily on Empires this month, still in good form after half a year in cold storage.

The flavor intensities of these apples varied, depending I suppose on how they had been stored and handled.

Smartfresh, a widely used gas that blocks fruit-ripening (by suppressing ethylene), has the side effect of diluting flavor, though this wears off.

April is typically when the harvest in the Southern Hemisphere comes north. These apples are six months fresher than fall's crop, though both undergo cold storage in controlled atmospheres before they arrive in supermarkets here in North America.
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To plant 100 heirloom apple trees

2011-04-16T20:15:00.003-04:00

Sunday was the inaugural planting for the Boston Tree Party's plan to plant 100 heirloom apple trees in the Greater Boston area.

As reported in the Boston Globe, the group planted a Golden Russet and a Grimes Golden on the Rose Kennedy Greenway in Boston, in a ceremony presided over by New Hampshire orchardist Michael Phillips.
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Record your spring blossom dates

2011-04-10T22:04:00.000-04:00

Orange Pippin is calling on fruit-tree growers worldwide to mark the dates of this year's blossom season in the UK-based web site's database.

The effort to document blossoming takes on special significance in light of last year's unusual growing season and the threat of climate change.

Join the database by opening a free account at Orange Pippin's Tree Register page.
Read more »

Apples of March (2011)

2011-04-03T13:07:00.000-04:00

March is depressingly far from last October's harvest or July's early apples, but there are consolations. Compared to February, I found some prime Empires and Piñatas.

No sign of lovely Lady Alice here this year, alas.

But March is also where I empty out the bottom drawer of my refrigerator and have my last taste of fall. As previously related, for instance, I had my last Winter Banana on March 19.

This spring cleaning invariably exhumes a few surprises, one or two apples I thought I was finished with.
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A Banana in winter

2011-03-25T10:35:00.001-04:00

It was logical to suppose, back in October, that the Winter Banana might be a long-lived keeper, also know as a winter apple.

I bought a few extra to sample as the cold months unspooled.

Winter Banana proved to be as durable as Arkansas Black, which the Banana also resembles in texture and sheer wooden hardness.

Here's how it went.
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Apples on the Web: Watercolors from Abernathy to Zoar

2011-03-11T09:46:00.001-05:00

During the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the U.S. Department of Agriculture commissioned thousands of watercolor paintings of fruit varieties, including more than 3,000 apples.

Most of these have never been published, but the USDA's National Agricultural Library has put 90 of these apple images online.

The varieties depicted were all introduced between 1886 and 1900; new-fangled then, heirlooms today.

The accompanying image of Cantrel was rendered by William Henry Prestele in 1894, blemishes and all. These painting were functional as well as pleasing.

Today they comprise the USDA Pomological Watercolor Collection. Other fruits in the collection include those of berry, pear, citrus, and stone-fruit cultivars. A short (but colorful) overview is here.

Southern heirlooms and the conservation of diversity

2011-03-06T20:27:00.000-05:00

He does not have a web site (or I'd link to it), but Mr. Creighton Lee Calhoun Jr. has been collecting heirlooms for the last 30 years at his orchard in Pittsboro, North Carolina.

Last fall, Kevin Hauser made a video of his visit with Mr. Calhoun, and last week the New York Times ran a feature about him and his trees. (Registration, annoying but free, may be required to view this article.)

Calhoun is Johnny Appleseed in reverse, for where John Chapman spread seeds and genetic diversity, Calhoun harvests it, not as fruit but as budwood that he grafts onto living trees.
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Apples of February (2011)

2011-03-01T08:15:00.001-05:00

The second-best apple I had this cold bleak month was a Granny Smith from the West Coast: crisp, tart, satisfying.

The best was a surprise Macoun from Albany via New York City. My wife and daughter brought it back from the St. Stephen's Greenmarket on Manhattan's east side.

Macoun has been off the menu here in Boston for months this year. It does not surprise me, though, that some New York growers still have good ones in storage, or that they should find their way to the Big Apple. I'm guessing this one grew at Samascott Orchards, just south of Albany.
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San Rosé

2011-02-23T20:55:00.001-05:00

The San Rosé apple is the latest new variety to join the midwinter pack that includes Ambrosia, Piñata, Pacific Rose, and Lady Alice.

Growers have been rolling out new varieties for limited availability this time of year, so I should not have been surprised to find something new in February. However, the pleasure was truly unexpected.

The shape of this large apple varies considerably, but it is ribbed, at least somewhat conical, and often asymmetrical, at least in this crop.
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Heirloom scionwood

2011-02-13T11:10:00.005-05:00

From time to time I am flattered by questions from readers who assume I know more than I do, especially about growing apples. (My expertise lies in the eating part of the process.)

Thanks to some other readers, who do know a thing or two, I am pleased to pass on the following sources for scionwood, also know as budwood, for older varieties.
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Apples of January (2011)

2011-02-07T08:53:00.001-05:00

Strange to say, it was in January when the poverty of the 2010 harvest really hit home.
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Fine, elegant, and old

2011-01-30T13:23:00.001-05:00

A few years ago I received as a gift a bottle of Bordeaux with a prestigious label. I do not know a lot about wine, and I waited to drink it with a knowledgeable friend.

The year was not a distinguished vintage and the wine was well past the nominal drink-by date, to the point where we did not even know if it would be drinkable. But we opened it and it was.

It had a thin, balanced quality and was quite good. My friend, a Bordeaux aficionado, pronounced it a fine, elegant old wine and we both enjoyed the bottle.

I was reminded of this today when I ate the last Macoun of the year. Unusual weather led to a small crop and this variety, which last year was available though mid-March in supermarkets, had petered out by the end of December.

The quality of these dregs was not first rate, either, reflecting probably how they had been handled and stored since the harvest in September or early October.

Despite that, I enjoyed these apples and wished I had had more. My last one sat in my refrigerator for nearly the whole month of January. It had no aroma, and time had thinned and watered down its wonderful vinous flavors and rendered its crunch delicate (but not at all mealy).

Still it was a fine, elegant old wine I was pleased to savor while I could.

Word play

2011-01-14T14:38:00.002-05:00

A new tool from Google lets us compare the frequency of apple names over time in a database of book texts. Consider the below graph of three different names for the Newtown Pippin:

Albemarle Pippin (blue) is the name of this apple in the Southeastern U.S.; Newton Pippin (green) is a variant; the original name is red. You can see that for several decades in the middle of the 20th century the Albemarle name was more popular than the original.
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Apples of December (2010)

2011-01-04T12:44:00.005-05:00

In December we live off the fat of October: winter apples snugly chilled in cellars or refrigerators and valued for their long shelf lives as much as their flavors.

This year the pickings have been unusually slim. I discovered--too late to stockpile any for this year--that Suncrisp is a magnificent apple for December, but have mostly been living on russets and Blushing Goldens from New England orchards, leavened with Mcintosh and Macoun from the supermarkets.
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Best Wishes for 2011

2011-01-01T17:50:00.003-05:00

Happy new year and thanks to my readers!

2010 was a rough year for apples, as many had feared, with unusual and adverse weather.

It is impossible to know whether or to what extent these conditions are a side effect of the steady growth of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere of our planet.

I expected things to slow down this year and that new varieties would be hard to find. To my surprise I wrote 104 posts in 2010, the same as in 2009, and had many great apples to taste and write about for the first time.

I could never have gotten here without readers, whose presence in comments and emails and links to this blog (and other contributions) keep me focused and motivated. Thank you!
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