In Memoriam

If you want a crack at immortality, you could do worse than breed a new apple variety. There is a tradition of apple varieties being named after the person who bred them, or who was happened to be around when the merit of the apple was recognised

The best moment to eat a dessert apple changes during the season. Early apples - harvested during August in UK - are best straight from the tree. We have a variety called George Cave (raised by, yep, George Cave, in Essex in 1923) that is good on the day, a little off the following day and boring the following week

Mid-season apples, harvested in September, are good immediately, can get more interesting for a few weeks, but become flat by Xmas. We have one called Charles Ross, produced by a gardener called - well guess - in Newbury in 1890

Apples harvested in mid-late October, or even November, though, are likely to be 'keepers', growing in complexity and interest until Xmas and then 'hanging on' with some acidity and worthwhile flavour until March or April, if you are lucky

Today we picked what are probably our three favourite varieties in the orchard. All of them fall into the 'late keepers' model I've just described, though I must admit we also enjoy the acidic "hit' that comes with eating them immediately

Brownlees Russet, closest to the camera, was bred by William Brownlees in Hertfordshire in 1848. Its parentage is lost, but it is similar in appearance and character to the variety that first got me interested in heritage apples: Ashmead's Kernal, a variety raised in Gloucester in 1720 by (medical) Dr Ashmead. My rather straight-laced apple book has a moment of whimsy - remarking that Victorians prized its flavour but the Edwardians liked its blossom (to look at) 

Behind that, Tydemans Late Orange was bred in 1930 at East Malling Research Station, Kent, by Mr Tydeman, of course. It is a cross between Laxton Superb (produced in 1897, in Bedford, by Laxton Bros) and Cox's Orange Pippin (1825, Richard Cox, Slough), one of the world's most famous apples. Tydemans is itself a Cox's cross, so this apple is 75% Cox's, and looks it. It has an even sharper, more intense flavour than Cox

Furthest away, Adams Pearmain may have originated, not in the Garden of Eden (else there would be an apostrophe!), but in Norfolk or Herefordshire. It was first noted in 1826, when Robert Adams (of course), nurseryman, gave a cutting to the Royal Horticultural Society. It is dense-fleshed and nutty, but also aromatic. It has an extraordinary shape, almost like a heart, which is instantly distinguishable, even in a mixed basket

The French do not seem to have the same convention with their variety names. We have one called Court Pendu Plat ('short, dangling, flat', bred some time before 1613) and another called Orleans Reinette (1776). Another French variety, Nonpareil ('unequalled'), was introduced to UK from France, according to legend, by the Jesuits in the 16th century.. Like a stud stallion, many apple varieties with intense, acid-drop flavour can be traced back to Nonpareil, including several of those I have mentioned here

Now, what rolls plessantly off the tongue? 'Melisseus' Marvel'? 'Melisseus' Beauty'? 'Melisseus' Seedling?...