Nowadays apples have that sweet but bland flavor.They've evolved from flavorful bites into slices of uninspiredness. Now there;s a new push to bring back the heirloom apples. They were around for centuries and somehow got lost.Not anymore.They;re comeing back with a delicious vengeance.
New contributor and former food and lifestyle editor at the Wall Street journals Off Duty section Sarah Karnasiewicz wrote about heirloom apples in today's New York Times Wednesday Food section.These gems are literally a taste of the past that intrigue cooks and apple afectionados alike. The flavors can have a honeyed sweetness to even a dark clove flavor.Now thanks to apple specialists or pomologists and fruit detective these lost varieties are coming back.For more than fifty years pioneers like Tom Burford of Vitginia,John Bumker of Maine and more recently Dsavid Benscotter of Washington State have surveyed property maps,aerial photos, and deserted farms. They also scoured vintage nursery catalogs, county fair records and more to search out these apples.Southberry Connecticut's James Wargo of Hidden Gem Orchard considers himself the beneficiary of their work. He can propagate a twig from an earlier type and graft it onto one of his trees. He offers an Eighteenth Century English varietal with an outside crunch and electric fizzy flavor.There is also the juicy Ribston Pippin ,a favorite fo Charles Dickens thats' making. a comeback I was the bases of his favorite apples a la Princesses also made with marmalade and cream sherry.
Mr. Wargo is bringing back other apples from the past.He has a harvest of Kandil Sinap,a petite egg shaped variety found near the Black Sea around 1800 and the Black Oxford a1700s. specimen from Maine that stores well and has non traditional purple skinThere are other heirloom apples that taste like banana bread. THese are so tasty that now people don't want to eat what grocery stores have to offer.Other heirloom apples like Cox Orange Pippin which has a surprisingly citrus taste with notes of honey , lemon and tropical notes and the oldest Court Pendu Gris which was first cultivated in France in the 1300's.It has a rich spicy flavor, perfect for a fall galette.Genevieve Weston is another orchard owner who is bringing back the ancient varieties that her grandfather planted in Waukesha County Wisconsin a century ago. Her family knew that the traditional apples were more flavorful and tasty than the modern ones so they made it their mission to grow them.Their apples have had it to many local farmer markets where they offer COurt Pendu Plat, first recorded in 1613 which has a nutty amusette flavor and Calville Blanx d"Hiver used in many a tart tatin. Its' fruity mix of banana and pear notes makes it unique.
It's time to try a taste of the past. Heirloom apples are the way to go for a flavorful apple. TRy them for a different experience and a link to the past.
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