Oh, Karmijn

Karmijn de Sonneville
Originally uploaded by silvercreek_garden

Do you prefer sweet or tart apples?

Let me rephrase the question. Are you the sort of wimp who prefers disgustingly sweet apples, suitable only for toddlers and invalids, or are you the sort of manly man and/or womanly woman who prefers an apple with bite and complexity?

I thought so.

The best tart apple in the universe is the Netherlands' gift to agriculture, the Karmijn de Sonneville. Why hasn't it taken over the world? Well, it's ugly. They are generally reddisn-green near the stem but at the base they are brown, like they have had some disease. But oh, the taste.

Cloud Mountain Farm had their harvest farm last weekend and we got there early on Saturday because the Karmijns sell out. Fast. Someone we know saw us with two five pound bags and asked if we were going to freeze them. Heck no. We can eat ten pounds of these easily.

I have never seen them for sale at any supermarket in Bellingham, although the Skagit Valley Food Coop in Mount Vernon has been known to have organic KdS for sale. Yum.