The Elstar Apple

Elstar is a descendant of the well-known variety Cox's Orange Pippin, and was developed in the Netherlands in the 1950s. It is a popular easy-eating dessert apple, widely grown on the Continent and in Ireland since as early as 1972.
Elstar has a distinctive appearance - difficult to describe but quite apparent once you have seen it. The skin is marbled, often with a soft sheen to it. It also lacks the perfect smoothness of many modern varieties.
The underlying colour is golden yellow but overlaid with deep red. The flavour is quite intense, with a little acid, but also retaining an appealing sweetness - usually described as 'honeyed' in the apple text books.
Elstar is definitely a crunchy apple, but not as crisp or hard as some apples, which can be difficult to bite.
Golden Delicious is one of the parents of Elstar, and in most Golden Delicious offspring it is the other parent which provides the essential counter-balance to offset the uniform sweetness of the Golden. In the case of Elstar this is Ingrid Marie, a variety which originates from Denmark. Although not a widely-known apple, it lends a bit of oomph to the mix - inherited from its own parent, Cox's Orange Pippin. The result is Elstar, which is recognised as one of the best varieties released during the 1970's, and indeed, not many have surpassed it since.

Older varieties section: Charles Ross

Charles Ross is a well-known apple which was grown quite widely in Ireland over the past century. The apple was named after the head gardener at Welford Park, Newbury, Berkshire. He was active in fruit cultivation and development at the end of the 19th Century. The apple is a cross between Peargood Nonsuch, itself a large and striking apple, and Cox's Orange Pippin, and it was first seen in 1890 under the name of "Thomas Andrew Knight" the great fruit developer of nearly a century before. The name was later changed when a friend persuaded Ross to name it after himself, so once the trees became available to the public, they were named Charles Ross.
The apple is esteemed as both an eater and cooker and is admired for its fine colouring, shape and size. If harvested early it keeps reasonably well for 8 weeks, but if allowed to ripen on the tree, it quickly becomes soft. We have two trees of Charles Ross in our old apple collection, and in future years should have a few apples for sale for those who might want to remember a taste from your youth.

Newsletter Autumn 2006		page 3 of 4