A Rose is a Rose is a Rose
Have you ever bitten into an apple and been overwhelmed with the essence of wild rose? It’s as if you have taken a dive into a giant pool of rose petals and their scent is infusing your nose, your taste buds, your brain. It happens to me all the time, especially when I taste the seedling apples that appear seemingly out of nowhere along the roadsides of Maine in the fall. One bite and I am transported back to my grandmother’s house that held the scent of old-fashioned roses long after their season had passed. This association between apples and roses mystified me until I learned that apples are a member of the rose family (Rosaceae) as are many other tree fruits, including plums, pears, peaches, quinces and cherries as well as strawberries and raspberries. What an auspicious bunch of relatives. Until relatively recently the botanical world did not distinguish between apples and pears. They were grouped together in the same genus, Pyrus, because they were similar in flower structure, cultivation, pollination and propagation. Really? Did those taxonomists ever take a look at the two types of fruit or taste them? Every toddler can distinguish an apple from a pear so obvious are their differences. Even our dog, Spy, who loves pears can’t be tricked into eating an apple. Over the past few decades, perhaps at the behest of 1,00,000 young children, taxonomists have reconsidered the classification of the apple and slowly, without fanfare, bestowed on it its own genus, Malus. The most obvious of the distinguishing factors that they use to support this reassignment are the hard, woody deposits in the tissue beneath the rind of the pear that feel like grit. Apples don’t have these stone cells. Less obvious to the untrained eye are differences in the overall appearance of the tree—the bark, foliage, flowers - that are characteristic to each. While not all pommologists agree with this split decision, we are happy to embrace Malus as a genus worthy of standing on its own roots and all the various species and cultivars/varieties that fall in line behind it. Which of course brings up the curve ball in your share this week - Gray Pearmain - Pyrus or Malus?
Picks of the week:
(Click each variety for more info)
The word for this week is BIG. Seems like all the massive apples in Maine have ripened in the same week this year. While we generally sing the praises of smaller apples because of their propensity to pack a punch of flavor into every bite, good things can also come in extra large packages. The group we’ve brought together in your share took us awhile to collect; they were grown in four different orchards and represent the best of the old and the new. If your apples in the last share called out to be eaten fresh, perhaps these apples will inspire you to grab a paring knife.
Not all big apples are as tasty as the ones in your share this week.
If there is one apple that sends Mainers on a trip down memory lane, it is Wolf River. Eighty years ago every grandmother in the state must have had a Wolf River tree growing in her dooryard that was perennially loaded with fruit the size of basket balls. Since a Wolf River story has the same tendency as a fish story to grow larger with every telling, modern orchardists are routinely criticized by longtime Wolf River fans for growing wimpy fruit. It never seems to occur to them that the change in apple size might be direct result of the change in size of the storyteller - it does take two hands to hold a big apple when you’re five years old. Despite the intense nostalgia for this apple, it didn’t originate in Maine; instead it was brought back east from Wisconsin by loggers who moved west with the vanishing forests.
Another big, old apple in your share is Rolfe. While it never gained the popularity of Wolf River, it did originate in Maine and at one point was grown throughout central and southern portions of the state. The only remaining tree we knew about was at Sweetser’s Orchard in Cumberland. That tree died several years ago, but with great foresight the Sweetsers planted a new row of Rolfe from trees we grafted for them using scion wood from their mother tree. This is the first year they have had enough fruit that we could offer some to you. Rolfe is a direct descendant of one of our favorite baking apples, Blue Pearmain.
In another bag you’ll find a brilliant yellow apple called Winter Banana. While this variety isn’t always a member of the mammoth apple club, this year they have been granted provisional status. This apple which originated in Indiana in 1876 is revered for its keeping qualities. Old timers would fill their root cellars in October with the Banana apple and still have fruit to use in the spring. They stay firm when cooked longer than most apples which can make them a challenge for pie bakers since by the time the slices have softened, the crust may be very dark. If using them in a tart or pie, slice them thin.
The fourth giant this week is an apple we’ve never included in the CSA before, SnowSweet. It is the only “modern’ variety in the group, and it hales from the University of Minnesota, the breeding program that brought you Honeycrisp. A century or two ago “sweet” was used to describe an apple that had no tartness - an apple like Tolman Sweet or Bailey’s Sweet that can taste “off” to our 21st century palates. In current apple lingo “sweet” refers to an apple that does a good job masking the acidity, but there is enough of it in the apple to create a balanced flavor. Slice up a SnowSweet, and you’ll see what I mean. Tackling one of these monsters whole feels like opening a bag of chips - hard to stop eating it, but you know you aren’t going to feel well if you devour the whole thing.
You’ll likely want to turn the four large apples in your bag into sauce, crisps or baked apples, so we wanted to make sure you had one variety to munch on fresh while you cored, chopped and sliced. That variety is the old CSA favorite, Gray Pearmain. Gray Pearmain is a specialty of the Apple Farm in Fairfield where we believe it may have originated. When the old trees were in decline, they too planned ahead and planted a row of newly grafted Gray Pearmains to keep the variety alive. We’re so glad they did. Those of you who are new to the CSA are in for a surprise. One bite and you will swear you’re eating a pear. Even our pear-loving dog, Spy, might be fooled.
Our apples come to you straight from the tree, so, as with all fresh produce, please be sure to wash them thoroughly before eating. Some of the apples are grown using Integrated Pest Management by the orchards we collaborate with throughout Maine, and some are organically grown here on Super Chilly Farm.
Don’t Miss: The Mystique of the Apple, a different kind of webinar by John Bunker on October 19, 1:00 PM EST
This presentation is part of the 2022-2023 Heritage Orchard Webinars hosted by the University of Idaho. Free registration. Click here for information on other webinars in the series. Contact knagy@uidaho.edu with questions.
Recipe of the Week
Blueberry Baked Apples
With so many large apples in the share this week, the timing seemed perfect for a baked apple recipe. We’ve included several in years past, but none are as quick and simple as this recipe for Blueberry Baked Apples that CSA member Helen Darmara shared with me. It is the perfect combo of local ingredients for those of us Mainers who have our freezers packed with the summer’s bounty of frozen berries. Helen told me she cooked the baked apples in the microwave, something I don’t own. So I waited to make them till I came to visit our daughter and her family in (where else?) the Big Apple. While you can bake them in an oven (45 minutes), it’s hard to argue with three minutes in the microwave. And they are really delicious. We ate them warm for a midday snack, cold with yogurt and granola on top for breakfast, and steaming straight out of the microwave for dessert. If John had been here, he would have insisted on a bit of vanilla ice cream - surely tasty but not necessary. I tried the recipe with Rolfe, SnowSweet and Wolf River - the Rolfe and SnowSweet took 2 to 2.5 minutes to get soft. The Wolf River took 3 minutes. Thanks for the great idea, Helen.
Ingredients:
Turn the blueberry baked apple into a quick and easy breakfast with a spoonful or two of yogurt and granola.
1 large cooking apple
2 Tbs frozen, unsweetened blueberries (no need to thaw them)
sprinkle of cinnamon
2 tsp maple syrup
1/4 Tbs butter (optional)
Directions:
Wash the apple. Use a small paring knife and a spoon or melon baller to remove most of the core of the apple. You’ll want to leave 1/4” - 1/2” at the bottom. If you use an apple corer you are more likely to push all the way through and out the other side. You are making a basin, not a tunnel.
Remove a 1/2” strip of skin from around the opening.
Place the apple in a microwave safe dish that is deeper than the apple is tall.
Dust the inside of the cavity with a bit of cinnamon, and fill it with the blueberries. Drizzle the maple syrup over the berries. Add a small pat of butter if you want for extra deliciousness.
Cover the dish with a lid or plate. If you don’t, there may be a small blueberry volcano in your microwave.
Microwave for 2-5 minutes until the apples are soft. Check them after 2 minutes, and adjust the time accordingly.
After you remove them from the microwave, they will be really hot. Let them cool a bit or you will burn your mouth.
You can also cook these in a 375 degree oven for 45 minutes. Set them in a baking dish with enough water to cover the bottom.