Re: [gardeners] yellow pear/NY apples

pennyx1@juno.com (gardeners@globalgarden.com)
Fri, 12 Apr 2002 23:38:13 -0400 

Jeanne,

We're particularly partial to Washington State red delicious. 

They used to sell them at the mammoth market way downtown in Manhattan, 
when Jimmie still sent to work. One apple was so huge, crisp and
delicious that 
it served him for a whole lunch -- and this man has a lumberjack's
appetite!

We apparently do not grow large red delicious here in the Hudson Valley
and
environs. In a blindfold test and dead drunk (oops!) Jimmie could tell
the
difference between apples....

Fortunately, our markets do carry them both. 

You know, 20 years ago Clementine little oranges from Morocco were a
hundred
percent more flavorful than they are today. Now I notice that they are
being
grown in all sorts of countries and climates, and every winter I close my
hands
and pray that THIS time, I will find the good ones. .  No such luck. 
Different
cultivars, obviously. 

Same thing goes for pistachio nuts. As I understand it, there are two
distinct 
plants which produce what we recognize as pistachios. The very flavorful
ones
originally came from the Middle East, and when there were big conflicts
going
on over there, some very bright person decided to plant the second
variety in
California, and create an industry. This nut does not have the same zing!
that
the old, imported ones had. A visit to a mid-eastern convenience store
for a taste 
sample would show you. The California nuts are jumbo in size,  but mild
in flavor.

And that must be the secret of the Washington State red delicious.
Different
apple trees, different climate, different fruit. 

We used to take the kids apple picking every fall, and you are right,
those fresh
apples do taste a world better than from the market, especially
Macintosh. 
Here we get some called McCoombs, which have a 2 week season and do not
store well at all. It's a Mac cross. Interesting apple. 

Curious that the Granny Smiths have totally replaced the old Greenings,
for 
pie and sauce making.  What on earth did they do with all those trees...?
For
my palate, I preferred the Greenings flavor for pies. 

Penny, NY



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