Adam's Apples

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).

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.

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

According to the grower, these diminutive crabapples—the largest might be an inch tall—are super tart and used to make cider. The staff at Shelburne Farm told me that these were Firecrackers. Maybe they are, but I have some doubts, aired (and resolved) later in this post. The apples are certainly pretty enough, though imperfect. This orchard sustained a good deal of hail damage last summer.