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Early Autumn Fruits (Mid-September through Early October)
Mid-Season Apples
Recipes
In the early fall, there is a wealth of apples to choose from. Look for Spartan (dark red), Red Rome (a baking apple with very firm pulp), Rome Beauty (large, red, with a slightly mealy texture), Empire (round and dark red), and
Northern Spy (pale green with yellow streaks).
Mutsu or Crispin (large, green, crisp, and tart) and Fuji (yellow green with red stripes) apples were both developed in Japan. They are becoming increasingly popular in the United States.
Golden Delicious is one of the most popular apples in America. It holds its shape when baked and is nice and tart, just right for salads. It is called Delicious, not because it is developed from the Red Delicious apple, but because the
strain was marketed by the same people, the Stark Brothers. The original Golden Delicious apple tree grew by chance in West Virginia. It was purchased by the Starks in 1914 for about $5,000, a very decent sum that gives an idea of how profitable the apple
selling business must have been. The Golden Delicious was crossed with the Jonathan, a popular red variety, to create the versatile Jonagold.
The legendary Johnny Appleseeds true name was John Chapman. He got his start by salvaging apple seeds from cider presses in western Pennsylvania. Then he travelled westward, where he stopped from time to time to plant orchards and sell
apples and seedlings to settlers. Chapman had an eccentric, missionary reputation, which was apparently well-deserved. He travelled continually, even in the roughest weather (his death at 70 is said to have been the result of exposure -- he took a long
winter walk around his property before falling ill); he tried to negotiate peace between settlers and Native Americans; and later he became an ardent evangelist for Emmanuel Swedenborgs Church of the New Jerusalem. In spite of all that, he must have sold
as least as many apple trees as he gave away, because when Chapman died in Indiana in 1845, it was discovered that he owned 1,200 acres of land.
You can grow apple trees from seed like John Chapman, but they wont produce fruit identical to the apple you took the seeds from. By a botanical quirk, all orchard fruits are like this. In order to produce a consistent type of apple (or
pear or peach or plum...) it is necessary to graft the apple tree branches onto a compatible trunk, or rootstock (often quince trees are used). This procedure improves the apple harvest in other ways as well. It limits the height of the tree, so that the
apples are easier to harvest. You dont have to wait as long for the tree to bear apples. And, if necessary, a rootstock can be chosen that has resistance to pests in the soil that might have killed the original apple stock.
Late-Season Grapes
Recipes
- Some of the best known grapes ripen in early fall. Look for Thompson seedless, Sultana, Concord, Muscat and Ribier, to name only a few.
- Blue-black Concord grapes are the variety used to make the grape juice and grape jelly so familiar to kids, but they are delicious fresh too. Concords are known as slip-skin grapes, because the grape can be pinched so that the inner
flesh slips easily out of its thick skin, which many people find bitter and prefer to discard. The flavor of Concord grapes (as well as Catawbas, which also ripen late) is described by wine lovers as foxy -- the tart, musky sweetness that is definitive for
juice and jams is often considered a fault in wines.
- For as long as people have grown grapes, they have preserved the fruit by drying it into raisins. Thin-skinned, golden Thompson Seedless, also known as Sultanina (the American offspring of the Turkish Sultana grape), is the variety most
often used for this today. Golden raisins, the so-called Sultanas, are actually also made out of Thompson Seedless grapes. The difference is that they are treated with sulfur to preserve the light color and retain a moister texture before being dried under
artificially produced heat. The darker raisins are sun-dried. (Incidentally, the fresh green grapes you buy at the grocery store are probably Thompson Seedless.) Currants -- the dried kind, not the fresh fruits related to gooseberries -- are made from the
tiny Black Corinth grape. Seeded green Muscat grapes are also commonly found dried. They produce particularly sweet, large raisins.
- Although it is certainly possible to eat wine grapes fresh, as well as to make table grapes into wine, for the most part, grapes have been cultivated for either one purpose or the other. Wine grapes must have a fairly high sugar
content, because the sugar is broken down during fermentation, and there must be enough of it to carry out that process.
Late-Season Pears (Green Anjou, Red Anjou, Forelle, Winter Nelis):
Recipes
- The last pears to be harvested before the cold weather sets in are Anjous, Forelles, and Winter Nelises.
- There are both green and red varieties of Anjou pears. They are known for their delicate flavor and juicy texture. Anjous are usually kept in cold storage for at least a month after harvest. This allows the sugar content in the fruit to
reach the optimum level.
- Winter Nelis pears are firm-fleshed and fat. Their green skin has a delicate hint of russeting. These all-purpose pears resemble Bartletts in flavor.
- Forelle pears are almost as small as seckels. They are yellow-green with red patches.
Persimmons
Recipes
- There are two basic types of persimmon: the Asian (or kaki), which is grown in China and Japan, and the American, which grows in the southeastern and central eastern United States. A relative of ebony, the persimmon tree is a source of
hard, strong wood that has traditionally been used to make golf club heads.
- Kakis were introduced into France and the Mediterranean in the 19th century and, soon after that, brought to California. The brightly-colored fruits, which may be yellow, orange, or red, depending on the variety, look a lot like
tomatoes. Several varieties are available in markets during the fall.
- American persimmons, on the other hand, are quite a bit smaller and more subdued in color -- they are an earthy maroon. These native fruits are not marketed the way their showier relatives are, although it is generally agreed that they
are much more flavorful. Those who are in-the-know, and lucky enough to live near a persimmon tree, get them the old-fashioned way -- by gathering the fruits off the ground (they tumble from the tree when theyre ripe, usually around the first frost).
- There is no pucker so downright unpleasant as the one caused by an unripe persimmon. To say that it is astringent -- and the experts do -- is an understatement. It feels as if your mouth has been vacuumed out and then filled with a wad
of fiberglass. But a fully-ripe persimmon is deliciously rich and sweet, almost chocolatey, so it is worth waiting for. Let the persimmon get so soft you almost cant believe it isnt rotten before sampling it. Or seek out specially-developed non-astringent
Asian varieties, which can safely be eaten even when theyre still crisp. Fuyu is the best known of these, but there are several.
- Persimmons are great fresh, perhaps sprinkled with a little sugar or liqueur -- although some people consider the fresh fruit a little too slippery. Almost no one will object to their moist, almost chocolatey flavor in baked goods,
however. Look for steamed persimmon pudding, persimmon quickbread and muffins, and persimmon butter.
Pomegranates
Recipes
- Pomegranates are Old World fruits and have been cultivated in Egypt, Babylon, India, and Iran for 5,000 years or more. They were known to the ancient Greeks, who attributed the existence of winter to pomegranates. . . in a way.
Persephone, daughter of the Earth-goddess Demeter, was abducted by Hades, god of the Underworld. While in his custody, the hungry girl ate a pomegranate seed or two and accidentally committed herself to spending one-third of the year below-ground. Ever
afterward, the anguished Demeter mourned for that entire season, allowing the Earth to become cold and barren.
- Spanish missionaries brought the trees to California and Mexico in the 17th century. Today, California produces most of the pomegranates sold here.
- Pomegranate trees are long-lived for fruit trees. A few trees in Europe are known to be over 200 years old. Pomegranate trees are often used as ornamental hedges because, even in climates too cool to allow them to produce fruit, they
bear showy flowers in bright shades of red, orange, or yellow. It takes a long, hot summer to encourage the development of good fruits.
- The list of medicinal applications of pomegranates in the ancient world is long and various -- it includes tapeworm, ulcers, and contraception. Boiled pomegranate rind made a yellow dye that could be used to stain leather and cloth. It
was sometimes added to food to tinge it yellow, a sort of poor-mans saffron.
- Sophisticated children -- that is, those lucky ones who are allowed to sip Shirley Temples while their parents sip Manhattans -- will be familiar with the flavor of pomegranates, even if theyve never had the fresh fruit. Grenadine, the
key ingredient and coloring agent in that virgin cocktail, is pomegranate syrup. Grenadine is also used in many alcoholic cocktails, the best-known of which may be the Tequila Sunrise.
- To cut a pomegranate, use a knife to score the rind, cutting lengthwise so that the fruit is divided into quarters. Do not cut all the way through the fruit -- this will waste all the seeds you slice, as well as making quite a mess.
Once the skin has been scored, hold the pomegranate over the kitchen sink and break it into quarters. Pluck the seeds from the skin and pieces of white membrane and eat them. If you like, you can remove all the seeds from the fruit and refrigerate them.
Theyll keep for a couple of weeks in a closed, refrigerated container.
- A nifty way to eat a pomegranate is to make it into a sort of natural juice box. Roll the uncut pomegranate on a countertop until all the juice sacs inside have burst. Then, poke a straw through the skin and drink the juice.
- Middle Eastern recipes make use of pomegranate molasses, a thick syrup that retains much of the character of the fresh fruit. Fresh pomegranate seeds make beautiful, jewel-like garnishes for roasted meats and add a pleasant tang to
salads.
Quince
Recipes
- The quince, which is related to apples and pears, is out of fashion these days, probably because it is used mostly for making preserves. In Colonial times, it was considered indispensible for preserving fruits because of its high pectin
content. Quince could be added to other fruits to help the jam set, and it made a delicious preserve on its own.
- The fruit looks like a knobbly, slightly fuzzy, yellow apple and is extremely bitter and hard when fresh. As it ripens, the quince changes to a deep gold color and gives off a delicious, spicy fragrance. Cooking inspires the quinces
flavor to match its fragrance. It also takes on an attractive rosy hue.
- The common quince is native to Mesopotamia -- todays Iran and Turkey.
- The number of specialized words -- now obscure or obsolete -- for quince jelly may provide some hint of how popular the fruit was a few centuries ago. Cotignac, or quince paste, was a delicacy of 16th and 17th century France. Quiddany
was the 17th century English word for quince jelly. The word marmalade originally meant, quite specifically, quince preserves. Marmelo is Old French for quince. Today, youd be hard-pressed to find anyone who thinks true marmalade can be made without citrus
fruits.
- When buying quinces, look for fruits that are entirely unblemished. It bruises easily and spoils quickly once damaged. Its okay to get unripe ones and let them sit for a few days in a shady spot until theyre ready to be cooked.
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