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Late Autumn Fruits (Mid-October through Early November)
Apples, Late Season
Recipes
- The last of the apples are harvested as fall draws to a close. Of course, the fruit keeps so well that you can enjoy them year-round. But an apple out of season is never as crisp and sweet-tart as one that has been freshly picked.
- As one of the oldest varieties of commercially available apples in America, yellow-green Newtown Pippins are not as fashionable as they once were -- and therefore perhaps not as easy to find. But they are great all-purpose apples, with
a flavor that has been described as subtly piney.
- Bright, shiny Granny Smiths are the most popular of all green apple varieties. In fact, even though the public is known to prefer red apples, in 1996 California apple growers
devoted more acreage to Granny Smith trees than to any other variety. The secret to the Granny Smith's success is its fantastic storage ability. Even after several months in cold storage and a bumpy trip to the market, it emerges crisp, tart, and
unbruised. It is said that the apple was discovered when an Australian woman, Mrs. Smith, tossed out a pile of apples in 1868.
- The increasingly popular Braeburn apples were developed in New Zealand. Oval shaped, with red skin streaked with hints of green, Braeburns are juicy and sweet.
- Macoun apples have purplish skin and a rather boxy silhouette. They are noted for their crispness, and are perfect for out-of-hand eating and salads.
- Winesap apples are small and round, with deep red, almost purple, skin that tinges the pale white flesh of the fruit. They have a distinctive tart, spicy flavor -- good for cooking and cider.
Cranberries
Recipes
- Cranberries grow on creeping vines that thrive in wetlands and bogs in the eastern and central United States. There are cranberries that originated in northern Europe, but the native American varieties are larger and better for
commercial uses. Americans consume far more cranberries and cranberry products than the rest of the world.
- Cape Cod, Massachusetts, is the place most intimately associated with cranberries. When the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth in December of 1620, cranberries would have been at their peak. The bright red berries floating in the marshy bogs
must have been a welcome sight to a group of people who had been at sea and probably needed a good source of vitamin C to counteract scurvy. Two hundred years later, a Revolutionary War veteran named Henry Hall began to cultivate cranberries at his Cape
Cod farm.
- You might never know it, because you've probably never seen fresh cranberries sold any other way than in those 12-ounce Ocean Spray bags, but there are several commercially cultivated varieties of the fruit. The most popular of those
grown on the east coast are Early Black and Howes; McFarlin and Searls are cultivated in Wisconsin; and on the west coast, McFarlin is the principal cranberry.
- A good, ripe cranberry bounces. This is the principle behind the staircase-style cranberry sorting machine. The berries are rolled down a series of steps, and those that are sound bounce merrily to the bottom, where they are rolled into
their packages. Those that are too flaccid to make it all the way down are discarded.
Kiwifruit
Recipes
- Before New Zealand thought up the name kiwifruit as part of a 1960s marketing campaign, these fuzzy brown fruits with the jewel-green insides were known as Chinese Gooseberries. They are native to China, although nowadays New Zealand
and California produce far more of them.
- The juice of the kiwifruit contains an enzyme known as actinidin, which is a very effective meat tenderizer. This makes kiwi a good addition to marinades. Or, if you prefer not to have the flavor of the fruit in your meat dish, cut a
kiwi in half and rub it on the meat. Wait half an hour before cooking.
- It isn't necessary to remove the skin from a kiwifruit before eating it -- in fact, the skin has a pleasant taste reminiscent of lemon rind. Just wash the kiwi, scrubbing gently to remove the fuzz.
Kumquats
Recipes
- The word "kumquat" comes from the Chinese kin ku, meaning "gold orange."
- The kumquat, native of eastern Asia, grows on an attractive evergreen shrub that reaches 8 to 12 feet high under optimal conditions. Small potted kumquat plants are popular ornamental plants in the United States, especially at Christmas
time.
- The kumquat that is most commonly found in United States markets is known as Nagami -- the small, oval fruits are native to southern China, in spite of their Japanese name. Other varieties you might encounter include round Marumis;
egg-shaped Meiwas, which have been bred to have particularly sweet pulp; and plum-sized, teardrop-shaped Changshou, which are actually a cross between the kumquat and the mandarin orange.
- Unlike most citrus fruits, the kumquat isn't peeled before eating it -- and that's for the best, since the delicious rind is the sweetest part of the fruit. If the sour flesh of the kumquat isn't to your taste, try this trick: roll the
kumquat between the palms of your hands until it's soft. This presses some of the sugar out of the rind and sweetens the pulp.
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