apple: egremont russet

Over on the other side I was commenting on the lack of taste in food you haven't grown yourself. Whether this is real or imagined, nowhere is it truer at the moment than in the world of apples.

This has been an outstanding year for apples for us. Our trees have now been in the ground for five years and so have reached maturity - and the weather blessed us. No late frost to destroy blossom and then moist soils to encourage fruit.

We have six cordoned desert apple trees and they can produce up to 40 fruit per small tree. 240 apples.

By choosing carefully, you can have a range of apples from those that should be eaten early, like Greensleeves, to those that finish later, like Red Falstaff that are good for storing and eating around Christmas.

At the moment I am enjoying a wonderful apple: Egremeont Russet. For some, the rough skin of a russet (slightly reminiscent in texture to that of a pear) is unappealing. So, peal 'em! Me, I like the texture of the skin, but it is the dense, yellow flesh of the apple that I like. There is a little necessary tartness to set against the sweetness of the flesh. A beautiful eater and great when cooked with porage on cold winter mornings.