We drove out to Hood river this afternoon to get out of town for a bit, and go back to Rasmussen Farm for some good, fresh apples. The kind you can’t easily get in Portland.
We got a grab bag of about 9 different varieties.. Mitsu, Golden and Red Delicious, Fuji, Braeburn, Honeycrisp, Arkansas Black, Spitzenberg and Winesap.. and others. We immediately washed off 6 for the drive back into Hood River we just couldn’t wait to sink our teeth into to those apples. They just looked soo good.
Of the ones we had, Winesap was clearly the most memorable. Christy too the first bite and immediately declared that it tasted like wine.. Guessing that has something to indicate why whoever named it, decided on winesap.
Anyway, it was incredibly crisp, with a fairly tough skin, and a tart, minerally winey taste. Grapey.
It just stood out completely from the the typical apple. Beautiful… Turns out that it’s one of the oldest, most notable apples in North America tracing back to New Jersey in 1817 as a variety meant for cider, which would seem to make sense with it’s winey-ness.
The other stand-out was the Arkansas Black. Smaller than the others but super crisp and increasibly rich and meaty. I’d label it my second favorite of the haul.
I’ll post images from the trip soon.
The order form for Coffee Delivery Subscriptions is now official and live. You can read the details here, or just download the order form and return it to me at coffee@deftcoffee.com.
Since every flavor that we experience has something to do with other flavors, I’ve, over the years, tried to become as aware of what is possible in other areas of expertise as possible. Every nuance that i am able to discern, describe in the halibut poached in duck fat that I had at Genoa the other night; every slip of craft in the buttermilk fried quail at The Lovely Hula Hands… understanding Amnesia or Walking Man’s beers… all adds up to a mental library of not only distinct flavors, but whole cultures through food. It is how we interact with them, how they can be created (or not) in such ways as to awaken our high spirits.
That means sampling what people at the top (and bottom) of their craft are doing, as well as experimenting with new things.
Enter the Parmeschewarans Whte Pepper. Soaked for 20 days in river water before being hulled, this is completely aromatic. A beautifully subtle result of a pepper – too subtle for everyday uses, where we prefer the un-hulled version, but on fish or over butter lettuce, the almost watery clarity, slightly floral quality that doesn’t come through in it’s sibling, would sit noticeably atop the food. Adding, not covering.
