Adam's Apples

This is the last week of the year for many suburban farmers markets.

The fall of an apple, historical records suggests, did set Isaac's Newton's mind to work on the problem of gravity. There is no evidence, however, that fruit met noggin. The pomological record on the presumed apple, Flower of Kent , is murkier. Let's take these in order.

The doughty and dense  Blue Pearmain  is the apple of choice to power me through a 50-mile bike ride. It feeds the legs even as it challenges the jaw. Below, the blue fella on the wharf in lovely Mattapoisett yesterday (mile 25):

Today's treat is a new variety from New York's fruit-breeding program at Cornell University. Its handsome red blush, streaky, russet-blasted, and set off by distinctive light lenticel dots, is complex and pleasing. The underlying yellow, edged with green, shows through to degrees in some regions. There are patches of russet in the recess around stem and calyx (which is closed).

These apples are enormous. The smallest one in the bin (shown) is merely large. Pink Luster, a new variety from Cornell, is conical and ribbed, a cheerful yellow with an uneven dark pink-fuschia blush. It is tapered and prominently ribbed, has a thick stem in a deep stem well, and is decorated with small light lenticel dots.

Many fine old apples come into their own in October.  Without planning to do so, I've been gorging on four varieties from my home state of Massachusetts. These are, clockwise from upper left:

Left to right are Ashmead's Kernel , Wickson , Macoun , Cox's Orange Pippin , and Chestnut Crab .

A funny thing happened when I retasted this apple: some flavors changed, and some harshness declined. Before 2009, Autumn Crisp was still an experimental variety known as NY 674. A local grower planted some and dubbed them " Early Jonagold ." That nickname was how I first knew them in 2011. Since then, the variety has gone mainstream under its marketing name, Autumn Crisp. I saw plenty of them in supermarkets this spring. The apple I tasted in 2011 , despite its virtues, could never be popular enough for that. So here is a revised review (fresh from a local orchard).

The rattle is back in Cox's. Go ahead and shake this fall's haul of the exquisite Cox's Orange Pippin .  Some  rattle  as the seeds inside the apple knock together. The quality of this year's Cox's is also especially good.

PANDEMIC MARKET REPORT Farmers market in late September is still great. Compared to other years, though, there are fewer kinds of apples for sale there. My photo shows an even dozen, raising the question, just how many do you need anyway?

Spoiler: the cherry is there. Boy howdy, is it ever. Since I first tasted Sweet 16 in 2011 , I have been searching in vain for its signature flavors, mainly an "in your face" cherry candy. Also, sometimes, almond and anise. There was a little cherry in the one I tried in 2018 , but nothing approaching the intensity and saturation, the unmistakable presence, of the twizzler candy that so many of my readers report. (Check out the comments on those older posts!) I'm therefore especially pleased to say that my 2020 sample has all that and more.