York apples

I just put an heirloom squash stuffed with sausage, chanterelles, and sliced apples in the oven to roast. Now I'm eating the apple peels.That's because the apple was a York apple. Yorks turned up at the Ballard Market in early November, and have since disappeared. That's sad, because the York, a slightly top-heavy trapezoidal apple with a tough red skin, was the most apple-y tasting apple I've had since childhood visits to upstate New York. In other words, the York is a real apple.

Well, of course, I Googled it. It turns out the York Imperial, found in York, Pa., in 1830, is known for "intense tart/sweet flavor, firm flesh and distinctive shape." It keeps well, it cooks well, and it's intoxicating when eaten raw. While I usually pair my afternoon apple with sharp cheese or some peanut butter, it would be heresy to do that to a fragrant, delicate York.