Today in the orchard
I recently visited the Union Square Farmers Market in Manhattan in search of commercially available pie apples. The square was hopping, and there was a lot of produce being sold. There’s not much else more fun than roaming around The Big Apple If you can't be at home!
Between the various fruit vendors I was able to photograph an impressive 36 apple cultivars for sale. Surely there must be some decent pie apples in the lot. Well, maybe. Sadly, nearly all of them were those modern, crisp, dessert apples in their various incarnations. Tucked between the Crispy Crisps, I found a cardboard placard with a recommended “baking” list. I wonder if whoever invented the line-up ever baked a pie.
HoneyCrisp
Pink Lady
Braeburn
Granny Smith
Macoun
Jonagold
But there were a few somewhat common cultivars that might be in contention. You may be able to find these at a farm stand or store near you. These included Winesap, Cortland and Idared. (Although I confess that I’ve never used any of them so, who am I to say?)
Winesap is very old and of unknown ancestry, originating well before the Revolution somewhere down near Valley Forge. I recall someone once telling me it was a good pie apple. Cortland is from the early twentieth century. Its parents are Ben Davis and McIntosh. Maine grocery stores will try to convince you it’s good for pies. So be it. Idared is from the mid-twentieth century and is a Jonathan x Wagener cross. Whether it's good in the oven is a guess. If you can find any of these three, I’d say try one, or even better, try a mix of all three.