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bad apples
Oct. 12th, 2009 09:30 pmA few days ago, I bought half a peck of Cortland apples from the supermarket across the street. They taste bad.
If they were spoiled, that would seem to be a problem to take up with the supermarket. Only they aren't mealy, or bruised, or mushy. They don't smell like rotting fruit. I didn't keep the receipt, but it would be nice to know, for future reference, if their bags of apples are unreliable.
If it turns out I don't like Cortlands, that's a much easier problem. I had thought I liked them, but my memory could have been mistaken. Do some people perceive them as "winey" or "perfumey?" The smell and aftertaste reminded me of solvent, though I couldn't quite identify which kind. Maybe acetone or alcohol. Cattitude suggested (without tasting--he's in New York) that it might be going to vinegar. I'd really like to believe that, because it makes so much sense, but the raw apple I ate had about the same balance of sugar and acid as a Macoun. Lightly sauteeing slices of apple, just to carmelize the edges, made the solvent taste fade far enough into the background so I could mask it with cinnamon. I mean, if a person wanted to eat the rest of the bag of apples, rather than dithering about it until they actually do spoil.
(The other possibility, of course, is that I'm hallucinating all this. I don't like to think about that. My previous experience with illusory smells hasn't had them persisting for 2 days.)
If they were spoiled, that would seem to be a problem to take up with the supermarket. Only they aren't mealy, or bruised, or mushy. They don't smell like rotting fruit. I didn't keep the receipt, but it would be nice to know, for future reference, if their bags of apples are unreliable.
If it turns out I don't like Cortlands, that's a much easier problem. I had thought I liked them, but my memory could have been mistaken. Do some people perceive them as "winey" or "perfumey?" The smell and aftertaste reminded me of solvent, though I couldn't quite identify which kind. Maybe acetone or alcohol. Cattitude suggested (without tasting--he's in New York) that it might be going to vinegar. I'd really like to believe that, because it makes so much sense, but the raw apple I ate had about the same balance of sugar and acid as a Macoun. Lightly sauteeing slices of apple, just to carmelize the edges, made the solvent taste fade far enough into the background so I could mask it with cinnamon. I mean, if a person wanted to eat the rest of the bag of apples, rather than dithering about it until they actually do spoil.
(The other possibility, of course, is that I'm hallucinating all this. I don't like to think about that. My previous experience with illusory smells hasn't had them persisting for 2 days.)
