More Historic Apples to Try
Calville de Blanc apples, which date to 1590s France
I love the idea of eating an apple that was eaten by people hundreds of years ago. Was Moliere eating a Calville de Blanc apple, which dates to the late 1500s, when he wrote “The trees that are slow to grow bear the best fruit”? Was Shakespeare thinking of a Calville de Blanc that had outlasted its prime when he wrote “A goodly apple rotten at the heart” in Merchant of Venice? It’s lovely to imagine that they were. The oddly ribbed green apple splashed with an occasional bit of red was grown in Louis XIII’s gardens at Orleans in 1627 and by Thomas Jefferson at Monticello. And now I’ve got it baked up into a pie in my little kitchen. I enjoy thinking of other women who peeled these bumpy treasures in very different times and circumstances than my own and wondering how they prepared them once the skins were in a heap on the table.
Sweet Russets
Northern Spy apples, also known as “Northern Pie”
The other old apples I picked to try this week are Northern Spy, an American apple that dates to about 1800 and Twenty-Ounce Pippin, a large apple from about 1850. (For another big apple, see my post about Wolf River apples.) The fourth apple, Sweet Russet, I was not able to date. But russets as a group are very old apples that were around in Shakespeare’s time, and once known as leathercoats for their rough, dry exterior. I’ve read that they’re not found in grocery stores any more because consumers find them ugly and unappealing. But I like how they feel in my hands and how they look – there’s something of an antique Christmas ornament or an old mirror that’s lost some of its silver about them.
Ah, But How Do They Taste?
Instead of cooking all of the apple varieties up at one time this week, I decided to savour them one at a time. I started with Northern Spy this morning. For breakfast, I made an apple pancake using a recipe from The Vegetarian Epicure. This particular apple pancake is really more popover than pancake, with a very egg-y batter that puffs into great golden brown bubbles in the oven. The apples are sauted in butter and sugar atop the stove and spooned over the pancake once it’s done. For dessert tonight, we had apple pie made with Calville de Blancs. Both apples performed very well. The Northern Spys were nicely tart, and held their shape well, which is important in a recipe like the one I used. I must admit that I really wanted eating the Calville de Blancs to be an epiphany. How could they not be fantastic? I am happy to report that the pie was excellent! The Calvilles are definitely an apple to pick up again next year.
Still to Come: Twenty Ounce Pippin and Sweet Russet
Check The Green Season glog later this week. The Twenty Ounce Pippins and Sweet Russets have yet to be tried, but I’ll be reporting on them as soon as we have eaten them in one form or another. I can tell you that one of my apple tasters loved the Sweet Russets raw. He said they taste like an apple you’d pick from a wild tree in a woodland clearing. Real apples.
Until then…
