Puritan returns

Puritan was one of the first apples I reviewed on this blog, back in early August of 2008.

Rereading that review made me think that apple might have been picked early. So when I saw it again, in early September this time, I decided it was time for a second bite.

Today's example is medium-sized with a streaky red blush over yellow. My photo rather exaggerates the orange effect this combination produces, but the blush itself is a straightforward red. The lenticels, large light dots, tend to get lost in the streaks.

This sample has a strong cider aroma with tart notes.

The flesh, medium-fine-grained, is soft, even cottony, but still fine for eating. Puritan's flavors are unassuming, a little generic citrus where sweet meets tart, and the suggestion of melon and pine.

If my 2008 sample was early, I think this one may be late. The texture is not as good, anyway, though the flavors may be a bit better than the earlier sample.

Perhaps some year I will snag a Puritan at peak. Many reviews emphasize culinary uses for this apple.

Origins

Puritan, a McIntosh x Red Astrakhan cross, was developed at the Massachusetts Agricultural College in 1929, according to Professor William Lord of that institution's Department of (no kidding) Pomology.

Mass. Aggie is now the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, one of two land-grant colleges in the state. The other is in Cambridge and never boasted, I venture to say, a department of pomology.

Lord, William J. 1955. "Origin of some Apple Varieties" Fruit Notes; 1955 (reprinted in Fruit Notes 72, Summer 2007:3-4)