Adam's Apples

Behold, not for the first time , Calville Blanc d'Hiver, the classic French cooking apple. I'm glad to have two of these, but also disappointed. Here's why.

It was logical to suppose, back in October, that the Winter Banana might be a long-lived keeper, also know as a winter apple. I bought a few extra to sample as the cold months unspooled. Winter Banana proved to be as durable as Arkansas Black, which the Banana also resembles in texture and sheer wooden hardness. Here's how it went.

Besides the blush, this apple is really two-toned: a banana yellow (sure enough) tinged a little with green, and a distinctly green-yellow hue. Flecked with brown lenticels, the resemblance to the long tropical fruit is clear, if not necessarily obvious. The blush is small, a light pink whose translucency, over the yellow, makes a peachy orange. The general effect is striking. The apple runs medium to large and is ribbed and slightly conical. The skin is naturally waxy. A week off the tree it is firm and has a sweet grassy fragrance.