Adam's Apples

In the last few years we've seen some new faces on the supermarket shelves. Kiku is sweet and crisp and juicy. Mahana Red is crisp and juicy and sweet. Kiku Mahana Red

Fooled again. It's not unusual this time of year to see one or two new kinds of apples in stores, fresh off the boat from New Zealand or other points south. So I pounced on Breeze when I found it last week in a local supermarket. To cut to the chase: They're Galas .

From U.S. Plant Patent No. 90 , circa 1934: My invention relates to improvements in apples of the type depending on color and earliness of coloring for a portion of their commercial value. The objects of my improvement are, first, to provide an apple of the well-known Delicious type which will color about two weeks earlier than the Delicious and therefore be ready to reach the earlier and higher priced markets; and second, to secure on each tree a higher percentage of fruits having the desired high coloring.

I took this photo back in October to show that the beautiful color of Jonathan (right) has the same deep tone as  Ruby Jon's . As his name implies, Ruby Jon is a sport of Jonathan—a genetic mutation that entails some difference or improvement valuable enough in this case for farmers to cultivate.

Today's photo mostly fails to capture Ruby Jon's intensely deep shade of crimson. In the past I've also been unable to depict the similarly dark hues of Arkansas Black and the mahogany reds of Black Oxford . This image shows a dark red, but the reality is darker. Does the problem lie with my camera, the online medium, or my own limits as a photographer?

This cheerful yellow apple holds a surprise. Crisp and juicy, Blondee offers uncontroversial flavors in the early harvest. The surprise? The blond one is a sport of Gala, not the result of breeding. Gala is Blondee's sole parent. Sports usually entail only minor differences form the parent variety, but I think Blondee goes beyond that. It is truly its own variety, if not its own breed.

Today's apple is attractive and big, with red to deep red streaks, sweet, juicy, and crisp. And it's a fraud. That is, it's a Braeburn marketed under another name. And frankly, I've had better Braeburns.

I'm always hoping to find apples that are new to me, to taste and describe here. This year I've walked many through the ritual of photographing and tasting, only to find that they are not new at all. Instead these apples were just sold under unfamiliar names. A recent visit to the Big Apple included a pilgrimage to several farmers markets. New York City draws fruit from some fine orchards upstate and in New Jersey. I returned with 4 varieties I hoped to add to my opinionated catalog . All but one, however, were retreads in disguise.

Many light lenticels, some large, decorate the peel. They are especially visible in the blush. White fine-grained flesh, tinted green, is a little spongy. The apple is tart tempered by sweetness, with classic McIntosh flavors of berries and wine (for the vinous definition of wine). Flesh color and texture suggest this apple was picked a little early.

Dandee is a large and slightly ribbed apple with a handsome saturated blush that covers nearly all of an otherwise green yellow peel. The blush is a rich crimson with some purple. A smoky blue bloom adds visual interest. Light lenticels run from large to small to indistinguishable.

When I first laid eyes on this pretty New Zealand import, I thought, What a great idea! Cross new-fangled Braeburn with heirloom Jonathan for some snap and hybrid vigor. Alas, disappointment followed. Yes the fruit has something like Jonathan's deep glossy blush, but that's all. Joburn is not a new breed at all but a sport  of an existing variety. It's a redder genetic mutation but otherwise it's just  Braeburn .

Professional league apple bobbing? Fruit Quidditch? Nope. Biologically, a sport is a spontaneous mutation that produces offspring with abnormal variation from its parents. Pomologically, there is this added twist. Apples are propagated by grafting, which produces genetically identical trees. An apple sport does not just differ from its two parents, but from itself, or at least its graft antecedent.

This large apple, slightly conical, has next to no ribbing. Its streaky red blush, over yellow, is accented with many tan lenticels. It's firm in hand, with a glossy peel and a sweet cidery aroma with floral notes. Kiku's flesh is crisp and coarse-grained, light yellow and very juicy. It is sweet and light with a little tempering tartness behind the scenes.

Staybrite is a sport of Stayman and presumably eats very similar. These apples were so handsome that I could not resist buying a few to see if there are any differences in texture or taste versus the original. My sample today, like many of the Staybites I saw, is big, much larger than other Staymans I have seen. But another one is just medium-sized. The shapes vary, from oblate to conical. There is a little ribbing.

What a pretty color! Thome is a sport of Empire —a genetic mutation, with but a single parent. Looks count at the market, so a sport that is redder or more attractive than its parent can be valuable. The fruit is medium to large and ribbed, a slightly elongated sphere. The deep plum-purple blush is decorated by many small light lenticels and a dusty blue bloom. It's nice and firm.

This pretty variety, a large medium, is mostly an unblushed yellow. Though the blush is often streaky, it ranges from a saturated red to a faint orange-pink wash. (It's quite solid on one sample). The lenticels are dark. Lucky is ribbed and well-formed, a bit conical.

This is a sport of Golden Delicious, and very like. But as you can see, these don't really look much like the Golden Delicious you'll find year-round in your supermarket. This one has a distinct blush, for goodness sakes, rosy orange over skin that is more green than yellow. There's some russet and fly speck too. The lenticels are dark green, light green in the blush. True, it is conical, tapered, and ribbed, like the G Delish we all know, but so are many varieties. In any case, Golden Delicious deserves a repeat performance.

I got two of these at Lexington's farmers market, one so different from the other that maybe two varieties got confused in the box. I am describing the more traditional-looking of the two (shown): medium sized, yellow-green with a streaky red blush with some faint speckles that you have to look very carefully to see. I had thought my mystery apple might turn out to be one of these, but based on appearance alone I'd say not so even before tasting it.