|
Perhaps not clear from my first photo: this hyper-lobed apple is basically a big triangle.
Bramley is Granny Smith–spring green, but the calyx end has a dull red blush where it has been kissed by the sun, and a ragged corona of russet radiates from the stem well.
There are faint green lenticel dots throughout. The peal has a satiny sheen.
I have never found these where I live, and for various reasons my previous example came from a London supermarket.
But I've now got my hands on fresh local samples: local, that is to Edinburgh, where I wrote these notes in September.
|
| Bramley for sale at a farmers market in Edinburgh, Scotland, on September 27. |
Bramley is the classic British baking apple: in the UK, they sell "Bramley cakes."
It's not a desert apple for eating out of hand, but for better or worse that is my yardstick. Mine has a pleasant sweet aroma that includes a little vanilla.
Biting the Bram
It it hard to catalog the different flavors though the tart, but there are generic berries and the hint of something lighter, like vanilla, and maybe table grapes.
No one would confuse Bramley with a desert apple, but for the right person it would not be an unreasonable choice for eating out of hand.
I also note that this apple was picked a little early, as suggested by the green tinted flesh (very faint) and by the apple pips, where were only partially brown.
In the United Kingdom this apple is synonymous with "cooking apple," at least for all things baked.
This sample is better than the one I described two years ago, but you can read that post (and the comments) for more of Bramley's culinary and cultural context. And history: it is more than two centuries old.
However, I've now indexed this report, and not that one, as my "most definitive" Bramley review.
Growing up in the UK this was the only apple tree we had in the garden. Mum would chop and freeze a load for apple crumble and sauce and we would eat slices dipped in white sugar to balance the tartness.
ReplyDelete