It’s apple season here in Washington, and I’ve been tasting every apple variety I can find at our farmers’ markets. As a kid in Texas, I grew up on the two colors of Delicious apples (red and golden); I still remember the novelty of those vivid green Granny Smiths from New Zealand. When I moved to New England for college, I discovered a new world of regional apples, ill-suited for long-distance shipping: McIntosh, Winesap, Cortland, Rome Empire. Oh, those were heady days! But it wasn’t until we moved to Washington, and began shopping at the farmers’ markets here, that I had any idea of the wide range of flavors, textures and colors found in apples.
These are the apple varieties that I’ve seen and tasted at our farmers’ markets this fall: Ashmead’s Kernel, Belle de Boskoop, Blue Pearmain, Braeburn, Bramley’s Seedling, Cox’s Orange Pippin, Empire, Fuji, Honeycrisp, Jonagold, Karmijn de Sonneville, Liberty, Macoun, Melrose, Northern Spy, Smokehouse, Spitzenburg, Winesap, Winter Banana, Zabergau Reneitte.
Twenty varieties of apples! Apples crisp, apples soft, apples rather chewy. Apples sweet and smooth, tart to the point of puckery, apples almost savory. (Do apples have umami?) Apples red and green, russeted apples, apples shaded blue. What a bounty! What wonderful variety!
Then today I read Harold McGee’s article on apples in today’s New York Times, which begins:
“I had the fruit tasting of a lifetime here last month. It went on for 12 hours over two days. By the end I had sampled several hundred different kinds of apples, some like no apple I’d ever tasted before.
“At least eight varieties tasted hauntingly of roses. Several surprised me with the distinct taste of anise or fennel. There were aromas of all kinds. Flowers and spices and nuts, including coconut. Lots of other fruits: orange peel and lemon, strawberry, pineapple, green banana. Rhubarb. Occasionally, popcorn, and potatoes. Some apples seemed to suffer from confused genus identity and tasted like pears.
“It was exhilarating to experience such different flavors in apples brought here from all over the world. It was also frustrating, because I might not ever be able to experience them again. The United States was once home to more than 10,000 named apple varieties, but nowadays it’s hard to find more than a handful, even at farmers’ markets.”
Apples that taste of rose or rhubarb? Yes, that’s fascinating, and I’d love to taste them. But 10,000 named apple varieties in the United States? That’s amazing. Where did they all go? And why do I find only 20 varieties at farmers’ markets in a state known for its apples?
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I too love tasting the delicious and varied vintage apple varieties. The recently developed Honeycrisp is a wonderful new one. Have you tried it?
I think it is amazing- great crunch, interesting flavor, and so juicy it can serve as a beverage in a packed lunch. Cooking turns it ordinary, however.