A radish note

The interesting radish I had from the Somerville winter farmers market is a "starburst radish," according to the vendor, who also said it's a variety of daikon, and that the name was unlikely to help me find it elsewhere. (This assumes that what we bought two weeks ago and still have half of is the same variety the vendor gave me a sample of yesterday; it's possible that what I had earlier was the one he called "watermelon.")

Interesting in this context means flavorful, in a peppery direction, but not too spicy for me to eat; most radishes I see, however pretty, are very bland. This guy has some too hot for me to eat. He likes to hand out sample slices to anyone passing by, of radishes and carrots (and possibly other root vegetables).

The vendor also said he'd talked to Whole Foods about them carrying some of his radishes, but nothing had been settled.

ETA: I just looked in the vegetable drawer, and I think the one we have now is purpler than what I tried yesterday. Clearly, when I need more radishes I will have to ask for another sample.

apples: Junami, Pazzaz, Williams pride

These are old notes that I had in Evernote instead of on DW:

Junami apples are a variety I tried in Bellevue (bought in early December, but I didn't note the year). They're not bad. The man at QFC [supermarket] said it was like a Gala or Honeycrisp but not as sweet; a good Gala is juicier and a bit more flavorful. I didn't note where these were from, and it might be worth trying outside Washington, given that the soil or climate here produces more flavorful apples.

Pazzaz apple is "a little tart but had Delicious nature," which I suspect I meant as an unfavorable comment on texture.

Williams pride apples have some flavor and are crisp 8/11/16. That's an early season Massachusetts apple.

I'm transcribing these mostly so I can include them in my index of apple posts, for next year.

apple: Hudson's golden gem

I bought two Hudson's Golden Gem apples at the winter farmers market yesterday, purely because I hadn't tasted or even heard of them before. When I told the vendor this, she said they're sweet, which they are. cattitude said "too sweet," but I like a sweeter range of apples than he does; our preferences overlap on Macoun and Esopus Spitzenburg, but I like Gala and he mostly doesn't.

This apple has fairly soft (but not mealy) flesh, and a thin skin with a bit of texture but not much flavor. Juicy, mild flavor. It's a bit reminiscent of Golden Delicious in taste (but not appearance: this is more of a light golden brown, not the yellow of a Golden Delicious).

Orangepippin.com describes this as an "excellent eating apple," derived from a seedling of unknown parentage and introduced in Oregon in 1931. Unsurprisingly, it's a late-season apple. (On the other hand, the same vendor had Esopus Spitzenburg yesterday, which isn't, and doesn't store very well.)