Adam's Apples

Scarlett O’Hara has a reputation as an apple that improves in storage. I waited two weeks before trying one of these, and then another month and a half before tasting the second. Quick take: This handsome flavorful apple juxtaposes some unexpected tastes in an appealing way. It has a great crunch, and is a first-rate keeper.

This foundling apple can be large, but the ones I bought are medium sized. They are classically conical and tapered with pronounced ribbing, a pretty light yellow with an attenuated red-orange blush. The peel is smooth and glossy. Click the photo if you like for a closer look at lenticels, streaks, and tiny stipples of flyspeck.

From its sparse striped blush to its lobed ribbing, today's apple is visually distinctive. Riverbelle's red streaks are broken and spread so thinly over the light yellow peel as to appear orange. The apple's tiny lenticel dots are easiest to spot in the unblushed peel, where they are green.