Newtown Pippin
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Newtown Pippin apple (also known as Albemarle Pippin) is the most famous colonial American apple. It was cultivated by both George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, and was exported to Great Britain in large quantities, and is still grown today for its superior flavor.
[edit] Characteristics
The Newtown Pippin is typically light green, sometimes with a yellow tinge. It is often russeted around the stem. The flesh is yellow and crisp. The flavor is complex and somewhat tart, and requires storage to develop properly; some sources ascribe to it a piney aroma. Green and yellow varieties are sometimes distinguished but it is not clear that they are in fact distinct cultivars. It is one of the best keeping apples.
Originally grown as a dessert apple, it is now used commercially primarily for cider.
[edit] Origins
This variety originated as a chance seedling (a "pippin") on the Gershom Moore estate in Newtown (present day Elmhurst neighborhood of Queens) on Long Island in the early eighteenth century. It was widely grown and praised in colonial America. Thomas Jefferson, for example, wrote from Paris that "They have no apples here to compare with our Newtown pippin." Widely cultivated also in the Virginia piedmont, it there acquired the alternate name "Albemarle Pippin", though the two are the same. It came to the fore in 1838 when Andrew Stevenson, the American minister to Great Britain, presented Queen Victoria with a gift basket of the apples from his wife's orchard. In response Parliament lifted import duties on the variety, and it was an important export until World War I, when duties were reimposed.
Of late has been eclipsed by the Granny Smith apple, which is handsomer and not susceptible to russetting. It is still grown commercially in New York, where it is an important component in a major brand of cider and also the company Martinelli's uses this variety still for sparkling ciders. and is still available in both Virginia and New York along roadside stands and at farmer's markets. It continues to attract attention as an heirloom variety, and was identified as one of the parents of the Ginger Gold variety.
[edit] References
- Newtown Pippin: "Prince of Apples".
- Vintage Virginia Apples: Albemarle Pippin.
- Karp, David (November 5, 2003). "It's Crunch Time for the Venerable Pippin". New York Times.
- Thomas, John J. (1849). The American Fruit Culturist. Auburn: Derby, Miller and Company, 182-183.
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