An Ugly Heirloom Apple That Looks Like a Shrunken Head Tastes Like Banana Bread
Antique varieties survived because detectives hunted them down in old maps and catalogs.
The Headlines · The Downfall of Trump’s Ambassador to Greece, and the Pope’s Cancer DiagnosisHomely heirloom apples can taste of clove or champagne. One lumpy British variety even tastes like banana bread.
Most apples in American grocery stores come from just five varieties, down from about 14,000 varieties cataloged in the country a century ago. Growers in New England, the Midwest, and other regions are now bringing some of the old ones back.
The revival follows 50 years of work by devoted seekers of lost fruit nationwide, who searched old land records, vintage nursery listings, and local fair archives to identify antique apples before they disappeared.
Those older apples are often less smooth and shiny than grocery store fruit, but the flavor can be deeper and stranger.
Take the Knobbed Russet, a rare British heirloom. One Vermont orchard manager told The Times, the daily newspaper, that it "might look a little bit like a shrunken head," while her son said it tastes like banana bread.
Questions people ask
Where can I actually buy one of these heirloom apples?
Try farmers markets, farm stands, and specialty orchards, especially in New England and the upper Midwest. Orchards in Connecticut, Wisconsin, Vermont, and elsewhere are planting old varieties again, so availability is seasonal and local.
Why did thousands of varieties disappear from stores?
Grocery chains favor apples that are uniform, durable, and long lasting in cold storage, so a handful of varieties came to dominate. Many older apples bruise easily, ripen all at once, or look lumpy and russeted, so commercial growers stopped planting them even when they tasted remarkable.
Can an apple really taste like banana bread or champagne?
Yes, though the effect is subtle. Like wine grapes, older apple varieties contain a wider mix of sugars, acids, and aromatic compounds. That chemistry can read as spice, flowers, honey, or bubbles, which is why tasters reach for words like clove or champagne.