The Arkansas Black

I ended up at Whole Foods somewhat randomly yesterday. I didn't really need anything, but it was the closest place I could think of that had both a cafe and a clean public bathroom, so I stopped with the hubby to have an iced coffee and a mini cupcake. While enjoying our sweet treats I remembered that I needed a red bell pepper for dinner after all, and that's how I ended up taking a spin through the produce department.

I love the produce department at Whole Foods--it's bright, shiny, and full of delicious organics and little oddities. If I'm not careful, it's a place where I can drop some serious cash on bizarre impulse buys, since I am exactly that kind of person that is taken in by produce that seems "exotic." Yesterday, I managed to bypass the squid-like Buddha's hand fruit but was completely taken in by some interesting looking apples. I ended up buying two lovely, deep red Arkansas Black apples (although mine were grown in California).

I ate one of my Arkansas Black apples this morning and it was delicious--extremely dense and totally unlike any other apple I've ever had. The flavor was very sweet and the apple was juicy. In fact, it was so sweet and juicy that it was almost like eating cider, if you can imagine. It had a little acidity in the finish and actually reminded me of what my pie apples taste like once I've sprinkled some sugar and lemon juice on them to keep them from oxidizing. A nice, hearty apple, it would be ideal for juice or cider and will definitely hold up well in baked desserts. I can't wait to try it in a pie or apple crumble some time soon.

I noticed that the label indicated that the Arkansas Black is an heirloom variety, and frankly, that was part of its appeal in the produce aisle at the store. I have been really influenced by Cary Fowler's outstanding TED Talk on the need to protect biodiversity and his involvement with the Svalbard Global Seed Vault. I make an effort to buy different kinds of produce and let my dollars tell the places I shop that I'm a consumer who supports bio-diversity. The fact that the apple was local was just icing on the cake, as it were. But I digress. Fowler's TED talk is actually relevant here not only because it's about biodiversity, but because one of the examples he uses to address crop diversity is apples and the notion of ancestral apples that families once grew and named after themselves. His comments on the Fowler apple, named for his family, are amusing and make one wonder about what crops one's ancestors might have grown, and whether they are still being cultivated. Thinking about his comments on the Fowler apple, I couldn't resist finding out a little more about the Arkansas Black.

According to the Arkansas Encyclopedia of History & Culture, the Arkansas Black was probably first cultivated on the Braithewaite farm around 1870 in the Northwest corner of Arkansas. It grows in swampy areas and is prized for being a "good keeper" that can last anywhere between 2-6 months if kept in cold storage. The longer it is stored, the darker the skin becomes, turning from a deep red to a black color, and the fruit itself becomes less acidic. It's also an apple that, like the rest of the apple industry in Arkansas, has never quite bounced back after the damage done first by the 1920 codling moth infestation and then by Dust Bowl conditions and the ensuing Great Depression. I have Romantic notions about reviving heirloom crops and am happy that this delicious heirloom apple is becoming more widely available, but also can't help but think that commercial enterprises have a lot to gain from reviving this specific type of apple since longer shelf life minimizes waste and increases profits. In any case, it's a darn tasty apple, and I it was fun to both try something new and do a little foodie research.

In doing some reading about the Arkansas Black, I came across another blog worth mentioning here. Adam's Apples is a blog all about, well, apples, and it's amazing how many varieties there are. Adam tastes them, photographs them, and posts information about the different varieties, including their flavor, size, where they grow, etc. It's fun reading, and basically a fruit-based and far less insane version of Ron Swardson's steak diaries (any other Parks and Recreation fans out there?!). It also makes me marvel at the diversity that remains in the world, it makes me want to keep protecting it, and, frankly, it makes me hungry to keep trying new things.