Adam's Apples

The crop of southern-hemisphere apples that usually arrives in late April or May was, at last, in full cry in June. I don't know whether it is freshness or terroir or something else, but the Chilean Granny Smiths were much better--crisper, more complex--than their Washington State counterparts.

Pinata May is not a very distinguished month for apples, and this year's (despite a few surprises) was not a very distinguished May. The local harvest is a distant memory, and for whatever reason the usual flood of apples from Chile and New Zealand is still but a trickle. I've come to take these apples for granted; their grown-in-the-USA alternatives are a bit long in the tooth this time of year. If you are hungry for an apple in May (or any time in the off-season, really), check out my picks of the best supermarket alternatives. If you really miss Fall's bounty, console yourself with this guide to the off-season choices based on your harvest-season favorites.

Empire I found myself leaning heavily on Empires this month, still in good form after half a year in cold storage. The flavor intensities of these apples varied, depending I suppose on how they had been stored and handled. Smartfresh, a widely used gas that blocks fruit-ripening (by suppressing ethylene), has the side effect of diluting flavor, though this wears off. April is typically when the harvest in the Southern Hemisphere comes north. These apples are six months fresher than fall's crop, though both undergo cold storage in controlled atmospheres before they arrive in supermarkets here in North America.

Empire March is depressingly far from last October's harvest or July's early apples, but there are consolations. Compared to February, I found some prime Empires and Piñatas. No sign of lovely Lady Alice here this year, alas. But March is also where I empty out the bottom drawer of my refrigerator and have my last taste of fall. As previously related, for instance, I had my last Winter Banana on March 19. This spring cleaning invariably exhumes a few surprises, one or two apples I thought I was finished with.

Granny Smith The second-best apple I had this cold bleak month was a Granny Smith from the West Coast: crisp, tart, satisfying. The best was a surprise Macoun from Albany via New York City. My wife and daughter brought it back from the St. Stephen's Greenmarket on Manhattan's east side. Macoun has been off the menu here in Boston for months this year. It does not surprise me, though, that some New York growers still have good ones in storage , or that they should find their way to the Big Apple . I'm guessing this one grew at Samascott Orchards, just south of Albany.

Strange to say, it was in January when the poverty of the 2010 harvest really hit home.

In December we live off the fat of October: winter apples snugly chilled in cellars or refrigerators and valued for their long shelf lives as much as their flavors. Suncrisp This year the pickings have been unusually slim. I discovered (too late to stockpile any for this year) that Suncrisp is a magnificent apple for December. Instead, I have mostly been living on russets and Blushing Goldens from New England orchards, leavened with Mcintosh and Macoun from the supermarkets.

The local apple season starts with a thin trickle in July and slowly builds to its October climax. Blushing Golden In November things drop off the edge of a cliff. This year the end of the harvest felt particularly abrupt. At those few farmers markets that continue past Halloween, pickings were slim compared to last year, when you could buy Blushing Goldens the day before Thanksgiving. I chalk this up to the vagaries of the harvest, from this year's odd Spring to Fall's windstorms. I wonder how long the Macouns will last in supermarkets this winter. Enterprise Treasures were few this month, and if you are reading this wondering what to buy in some future November I refer you to the guide I wrote last year. I did get some wonderful unpasturized sweet cider from Phil's, a blend of Enterprise and Cortlan...

Left to Right: Winter Banana, Thome Empire, Ananas Reinette, Roxbury Russet. October is always exciting, the principal month for apples in the principle apple season. (Further emphasized by the abrupt end of the harvest around Halloween.)

September starts with a parade of interesting but short-lived summer apples and ends with some of the finest varieties at their peak. This year I was especially interested to see how Spring's unusual weather would affect the harvest. One grower had wildly predicted McIntosh in mid-August (even as he was selling Lodi apples harvested much too early). Macoun and McIntosh

So, August is just a prelude to September, when the real Apple action ramps up. Right? Any week that offers a choice between between rich and mellow Williams' Pride , spicy Gravenstein , and Tydeman's Early Red (a wonderful old variety) is a great week for apples. I heartily recommend any of these. That was just the second week in August, when I also found unusual Empress . The first week of August saw the end of Vista Bella (still available, but past its prime). Also for sale: Early Mac, Jersey Mac , Paula Red , Lodi , Gingergold , and Williams Pride, all available throughout the entire month. Early Mac is more a type than a variety, or I would review it. Jersey Mac is representative of the early McIntosh lookalikes. I don't much care for these; if you are missing McIntosh that badly you'd be better of with Paula Red.

The apple season started early in July along with dire predictions of a McIntosh harvest in mid-August. The idea of a "normal" harvest date is elusive, but Lodi was available the week of July 14, more than two weeks premature. This harvest follows a warm spring with unusually early blossoming --"not a little bit weird, it's high weird," as one grower said. However, the early Lodi apples proved unripe--picked prematurely. Other varieties, though early, seem to be so by about a week, not a fortnight. I personally saw six local varieties for sale in July: Vista Bella , Lodi, Paula Red , Jersey Mac (and Early Mac, as near the same thing as no never mind), Yellow Transparent , and Zestar . In a normal year, if there is such a thing, most of these would not be available until early August. A seasonal import from Argentina, Autumn Greeting , also made a brief appearance in mid July, though these...