Friday, October 5, 2018

Westfield Seek-No-Further returns

Handsome apple with pinkish blush

Seek no further!

This large and essentially spherical apple (though slightly oblate) has a very pretty layered blush that is in some places a warm pink. In others there is a kind of Indian red, with brown tones.

(A second sample is a little conical and has a more classical shape.)

Westfield is sprinkled with tan lenticels that show as small dark green dots in the unblushed peel, which is spring green.

It’s a very pretty apple to my mind, with a thick stem, almost no ribbing, and an open calyx. It is quite firm.

Sweet and well-balanced, this apple has the faintest possible citric bite backed up by honeyed sweetness.

Seek-no-further has a wonderful delicate flavor that dances a little bit with lychee and a little with toast, but is wholly its own. There is a tiny hint of vanilla in the mix.

The flesh is firm, more fine-grained than otherwise, a creamy white.

The texture is very good, breaking crisp but not explosively so, and a little dense and hard. A bite makes for a pleasant chew, but you do have to work a bit to part it from the apple.

Westfield has a particularly clean, satisfying finish—it sits well in the mouth and the belly.

This is my second bite at Westfield, after an older review of a sample that was probably a little past its peak (but still very good). Note the colors of each.

The two descriptions reflect small differences.

This apple is a deeper red and has some blemishes

Both are valid, but the earlier write-up enjoys a wealth of comments from readers who love this apple. A surprising number of them grow it.

My first Seek-No-Further review, in 2009, found this apple to be like one of the russets: lacking only the russet skin, but with many of the same eating qualities.

Some of those qualities are not present in this sample, though I would at least argue there is a congruence with the russet world. If you had a russet that tasted like this, you would not be shocked.

You would certainly be pleased.

6 comments:

  1. I ate a Westfield Seek-No-Further at the Brookline farmers market last Thursday. So if you're in the Boston area, now's the time to seek.

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    Replies
    1. Early October is a good time to pick Westfield, at least in Massachusetts where the apple originated.

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  2. Replies
    1. Can anyone help Morris Apple Orchard, from mid-state New York? My only suggestion is to consult with the New York agricultural extension office.

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    2. Fedco has offered this tree in the past. Check their online catalogue when they update in October.

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