Adam's Apples

Most of the time, my comparison posts start by introducing the apples and asking, which is best? This isn't that kind of thing. Instead the question is, will these apples go together as well as I imagine?

Shelburne Farm , in Stow, Massachusetts, is on a tear with red-fleshed apples, and here are three of them. Left to right: Scarlet Surprise, Pink Pearl, Firecracker The photo above buttresses three of my observations about red-fleshed apples generally.

The Starkeys are particularly good this year, the way the Baldwins were last year. So I thought I'd taste one again.

The light plays across the apples at farmers market yesterday.

This small, crabapple-sized fruit, with its glossy deep red peel and striking pink flesh, is gorgeous. But is it good to eat?

The broad stripes on the apple at left do not appear to be usual, but I wanted you to see it alongside the more-typical apple on the right. Both are Ellison's Orange. Consequently there are two examples of this English apple to enjoy. These fruits are on the small side of large, a cheerful spring green layered with a subdued orange-red blush and a fair amount of rusetting. The surface finish ranges from matte to rough.

It's no trick of the light. This yellow-green apple (a French cider apple with a familiar name) really does present a two-toned face to the world. The lower left two-thirds is distinctly darker, with a jagged but clear boundary. That darker area has a curious translucent quality, as though the apple were a sponge that had been partially moistened. What is going on?

Note the dark red bulls-eye near the center. Outwardly, Scarlet Surprise is a round, red apple, pretty if not remarkable. Now imagine biting in to discover that the color is more than skin deep. Surprise! To avoid surprises, the grower had sliced samples on display. But the true surprise lies in this apple's interesting flavors. Scarlet is a medium sized apple, round and orange-touched red, with very little ribbing at all and small light lenticel dots. The peel is glossy with natural wax, and there is a slight light-colored bloom in a few spots. Inside Instead of biting in, I cut. The sliced apple smells of berries and pumpkin. The striking magenta-pink flesh is yielding and without much of a crunch, but it is juicy and pleasant,  coarse grained. The Surprise is well balanced, though on the tart side of that range. The flavors include raspberries and citrus with a marshmallow note (the candy, not the herb ). I found a little  grapefruit  flavor in parts of the apple. There

Suddenly, this new variety is everywhere. My supermarket has them in the merely large size, and the grocery chain Trader Joe's has big ones for sale loose and little ones by the bag. Stemilt, the grower with one of two North American licenses for this apple, sent me six huge ones, and that's what I have before me today.