Adam's Apples

French markets are like ours. Only different. At the Marché Saint-Antoine, on the Presque Isle bank of the Saône River in Lyon, the farmers and food artisans set up their stalls six mornings a week.

Large but not huge, this apple's cheerful orange red blush mostly covers green yellow. Ariane, another apple from France's National Institute for Agricultural Research, has only slight ribbing and a glossy peel that may be waxed. Despite having  been in storage for most of a year, Ariane feels very firm in hand. She has small but distinct tan lenticels, some dark with russet.

The Chantecler, sometimes marketed under the Belchard trademark, is French. This large apple's mellow yellow color signals Golden Delicious ancestry. My samples are oblate with moderate moderate ribs. They sport dark gray brown lenticels and a few small saturated red spots like colored ink drops. These Chanteclers have a little give, but they have been off the tree since October. They have a promising sweet aroma.