Adam's Apples

An early Vista Bella promises the harvest to come. Earlier this year I found I had nothing to say here. For four months. But the hope of another harvest, and encounters with four new varieties in June and July, have got me going again.

Lodi Vista Bella

Some unusual flavors commend the apple called Divine (though its variety name is the incomprehensible Delfloki). They are on the small end of large, tapered and conical. Ribbing is subtle and the calyx is recessed so that the apple teeters on a ring around the base. "Teeters" because many of these are oddly lopsided. The calyx is wide open, stamens akimbo.

He's a sweet guy, with some interesting flavors. Red's pretty crimson blush, slightly streaky over yellow green, is accented by striking large light lenticels, widely spaced. The peel is very glossy and almost certainly waxed .

French markets are like ours. Only different. At the Marché Saint-Antoine, on the Presque Isle bank of the Saône River in Lyon, the farmers and food artisans set up their stalls six mornings a week.

Large but not huge, this apple's cheerful orange red blush mostly covers green yellow. Ariane, another apple from France's National Institute for Agricultural Research, has only slight ribbing and a glossy peel that may be waxed. Despite having  been in storage for most of a year, Ariane feels very firm in hand. She has small but distinct tan lenticels, some dark with russet.

Hummus is healthier than you probably think. And don't ask about the granola bars.

The Chantecler, sometimes marketed under the Belchard trademark, is French. This large apple's mellow yellow color signals Golden Delicious ancestry. My samples are oblate with moderate moderate ribs. They sport dark gray brown lenticels and a few small saturated red spots like colored ink drops. These Chanteclers have a little give, but they have been off the tree since October. They have a promising sweet aroma.