I decided to put this in the fruit growing category because the opinions of apples it contains will certainly influence some of my choices in fruit growing in the future. I’ve never read a book about apple tastes of rare and common varieties so cleverly written- his writing would be enjoyable to me even if I hated apples.
The book is “Apples of Uncommon Character” by Rowan Jacobsen and if you can mimic the vocabulary he uses in his descriptions of apple flavors and their histories, you will be able to converse with a table of NYC food critics in a fine restaurant without losing face.
I probably received the book from a customer, but I’m not sure. It has sat on my shelf for I don’t know how long (people often buy me apple books) and I only started reading it today. I wish it was signed by the giver.
From wiki He has received James Beard Awards for his book A Geography of Oysters and his Eating Well piece, “Or Not to Bee.”[4] His Outside Magazine piece “Heart of Dark Chocolate” received the Lowell Thomas Award from the Society of American Travel Writers for best adventure story of the year.[citation needed] His Harper’s piece “The Homeless Herd” was named best magazine piece of the year by the Overseas Press Club.[5][failed verification] Apples of Uncommon Character was named a Best Food Book of the Year by the Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Boston Globe, NPR, and others. Fruitless Fall received the 2009 Green Prize for Sustainable Literature.[6]
@alan , I love this book!! The descriptions and the writing in general are so clever. Fun and educational at the same time. My favorite apple book.
Apples of Uncommon Character
“Fresh off the tree, a properly grown Golden Delicious has a lovely breaking quality. Each chunk eagerly separates from the mother ship and hurls itself into your mouth, where your teeth can have their way with it”
Blue Permain ““as if accidentally sprinkled from the brush of him who paints the autumn leaves. Blue Pearmain feels layered, as if its skin were a canvas worked over by a patient and exacting Impressionist. You can lose an hour gazing into its textured depths.”
“Granite Beauty is like the Charles Bukowski of the appleworld. It gives the feeling of a dissolute existence brought on by life too deeply felt. The network of pale scarring across the surface, as if you were viewing the Badlands from a plane; the strangely oily skin; the air of noble ruin; Mickey Rourke will play it in the film adaptation.”
“Seemingly designed by a team of lab technicians and focus groups, Honeycrisp doesn’t crunch like normal crisp apples; it shatters in your mouth like an apple-flavored Cheeto, and juice explodes from the bursting cells. The effect is exhilarating.”
