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Apples first cultivated in Roxbury gain popularity
By adamg on Mon, 09/22/2014 - 12:55pm
Fort Hill History takes note of the Roxbury Russet - a type of apple first grown in Roxbury, back when it had apple orchards. See where you can find them now - and the cider they are good for.
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Comments
Yes, I know, I missed the obvious local headline
"How do you like them apples?" would have been sooo easy to write. And I almost did, I admit it.
Outstanding
Roxbury russets are outstanding apples! They look awful (brown russet-y patches all over) but they have a wonderfully sweet and complex flavor. I buy as many as I can when I see them!
West County Cider makes a
West County Cider makes a Roxbury Russet cider, well worth grabbing if you can get it.
Chacun a son gout
I went out of my way to track some down. I did not like them at all. Flavor was unremarkable, texture was terrible (rubbery?!). I don't know how they are for cider making but I won't get them for fresh eating again.
That "rubbery" texture made
That "rubbery" texture made them great for apple pancakes when I got some years ago. Other apples release enough moisture in cooking that they mess up the batter & make for heavy pancakes. The russet apples didn't do this.
But I don't know if I tried them as eating apples.
Rubbery apples
Also good for making dried apples.
Assuming Roxbury Russets are anything like...
Golden Russets, they taste great but you have to get used to the very different texture from "modern" apples.
"Modern"?
I'm not sure you know what you're talking about. Gravensteins are older than Roxbury Russets and are crisp and delicious for eating out of hand, unlike the rubbery and bland Roxbury Russets. Jonathan, Spitzenberg, Northern Spy, Winesap, dozens of others, are 19th Century or earlier and are also wonderful.
Did I compare Russets to other old apple varieties?
Not aware that I did so. Also not aware that I suggested that the (very different) older varieties like Gravenstein, Jonathan, Northern Spy, etc were less than wonderful (each in its own way).
I like Russets -- and I like the others.
Historic fruit
Fun fact: This apple was cultivated by the family of Roxbury's favorite son, Revolutionary War hero Dr. Joseph Warren.
These are my favorite apples
I always buy these if they are available at a farmers' market.
Apples and Warren family
So glad to see mention of Dr. Joseph Warren's family credited with the cultivation of this apple. Warren's father I believe fell from a ladder picking apples and died when Joseph Jr. was about 14 at the time. I'm doing a project on Dr. Warren and could use some help.
Dr. Joseph Warren
There's a recent book about him - Dr. Joseph Warren: The Boston Tea Party, Bunker Hill, and the Birth of American Liberty, by Samuel A. Forman.