Adam's Apples

Imagine my surprise to find mustard in my apple last week. Not the actual golden brown spicy stuff, but rather its distinctive tang. Minus the heat.

For the past week, I have been munching my way through a bag of about 12 tiny Piñata apples that I got at Trader Joes, a national supermarket chain. (By "tiny" I mean small medium, with diameters of about 2¼ inches.) Piñata is a great new variety with some wild flavors, and these little guys are especially hard and crisp. TJ's touts them as "baby" apples, which is brilliant (if inaccurate) marketing for apples that other retailers likely reject as too small. At this size they are easy to snack on! And very welcome this time of year.

Distinctive Piñata was first introduced into the Northeast last February. Its arrival a few weeks earlier this year permits a comparison with Pacific Rose, another newcomer. A face-off is hard to resist since they share some lush flavors. Consider this the hibernal battle of the tropical tastes.

I've had two new varieties this month, both yummy, artfully marketed, and trucked in from the West Coast. So, who is the fairest of them all? The two apples have similar colors, a red tinged with pink and orange over greenish yellow, for an orange effect. But Piñata's blush is more extensive and also variegated, with attractive flamelike streaks. Ambrosia is perhaps slightly more ribbed with lobed chins at the base. Piñata has larger lenticels. To my eye, Piñata is the more striking of the two, though Ambrosia is shaplier. The apples have similar aromas, but Ambrosia has a bit of pear and berries, while Piñata is spicier, something I hadn't noticed in my previous tasting. Piñata The photos I published with the separate Ambrosia and Piñata reviews are more represe...

Piñata appeared at the market complete with snazzy name and the slogan, "Classic apple flavors with a tropical twist." Clearly the marketing gurus pulled an all-nighter on this one, but let's have a look. This is a medium-large apple with a streaky pink blush over yellow; the fusion effect is a variegated flamboyant orange and very pretty. My photographed sample is a bit lopsided but most of the apples were more symmetrical and had a pronounced conical silhouette.  These are moderately ribbed and firm, with a clenched calyx and small light lenticels (many surrounding a tiny dark spot). The unbroken apple has a lovely lush aroma with hints of melon.