Chubby Cheeked Nobility

Posted on by

Character, grace and inner values can come from unexpected places. And some apples might prosper very far from ordinary trees (Ingredient Special on Boskoop Apples).

The Boskoop was one of the first apples I learned the name of as a child. My grandparents always talked about their fruit trees, especially in late summer and fall. And I remember the Boskoop apple very well because I thought it had a funny name. Boskoop. In German, that sounds kind of like someone who is up to mischief and pranks. Very interesting for kids of a certain age.

But of course ‘Boskoop’ is not the full name of this exquisite fruit. It’s ‘Reinette Belle De Boskoop’, which means ‘Little Beautiful Queen of Boskoop’. So this apple has blue juice, so to speak. This particular Reinette, which represents a certain group of apples, also has amazing qualities as a plant. It has very robust trees, the fruit ripens rather late – usually at this time of year (late September to mid-October) – and it can be stored for a very long time. This may be due to its high vitamin C content.

The curious thing about this chubby cheeked nobility is that it did not actually originate from ‘high breading’. It was found as a chance seedling in the mid-19th century in a small town called Boskoop in the Netherlands. Which is actually close to another town that gave its name to a famous food. You may have heard of Gouda cheese. And coming from a chance seedling is not a bad heritage. Many excellent and successful plants were originally chance seedlings.

But let’s get back from the world of big apples to a more prosaic matter at hand: Fall has begun – time to start baking. And what better way to combine the bounty of the harvest with the aroma of baked goods than with a fruit pie. Or even a baked apple.

And, if you have ever baked with Boskoop apples, you, like me, will be waiting for them to arrive in stores and markets. Because this hearty tree fruit is truly the royalty of baking apples.

Side Notes

  1. If you are interested in the science and breeding of fruit, you may want to consider a career as a pomologist. Yes, that is the correct term. And it is a very important science that you can study at Colorado State University, Purdue University (Purdue Pomology Lab), Geisenheim University, and the University of Bologna. Just to name a few. And they don’t just study apples, as the name might suggest. Pomologists work on pome fruits (like apples and pears), stone fruits (like plums and apricots), nuts, and citrus (lemons, oranges, and other citrus fruits). They might also take a closer look at Oleaceae (e.g., olives), Vitaceae (e.g., vines), and “small fruiting trees” (surprisingly, blackberries and raspberries).
  2. As usual, you’ll find a recipe to accompany this Ingredient Special on Boskoop Apples ([‘Boskoop in Nightgown’]). And I took my own advice and baked it whole (well, half whole).
  3. Another recipe this apple is perfect for is the [‘Covered Cake’]. I reworked that recipe and made it a little simpler. Now is your chance to try it.