Many a time, in contemplating the conditions described under the
heading of "Ungastronomic America," have I wished I lived in Europe;
yet, every time, my gastronomic allegiance to the Stars and Stripes is
cemented again by the contemplation of the glorious fruits we produce.
This feeling is the stronger because I had the rare good fortune to
grow up in an Oregon apple orchard. Oregon apples gave me my college
education, and my sturdy health, too, for nothing is more wholesome
than apples, and from my eighth to my eighteenth year I ate more apples
than anything else. In our orchard of many hundreds of trees there
were scores of varieties, some of which I would no more have thought
of eating than a raw potato. Not that they would not have found a
ready sale in any market; but at home they were rejected because of
their inferiority in Flavor to the Gravenstein, the Red Astrachan, the
Baldwins, the Northern Spy, Yellow Newtown and Green Newtown Pippins,
Winesap, Roxbury Russet, White Winter Pearmain, Swaar, Seek-No-Further,
and the Rambo, juiciest of cider apples and good to eat out of hand.
We also used to peel and cut up apples for drying. Very few people know
the most delicious way to eat apples. We knew it. Turn the wheel of
the peeler round two or three times; that removes the skin; then keep
on turning till all the pulp has peeled off into your left hand. Raise
your head, drop into your mouth the pulp of the apple and you will know
the meaning of the word Flavor. And the best of it is that if eaten
that way, raw apples are not indigestible for anybody.
Thirty-two years after these glorious feasts had come to an end I was
pleased to get for review E. P. Powell's delightful book, "The Country
Home,"[24] and to find that that eminent connoisseur's ideas regarding
the best American apples coincided in the main with my youthful
convictions. I cannot too strongly urge my readers to get that volume
and enjoy Mr. Powell's remarks--written _con amore_ as well as with
the knowledge of an expert--on the kinds of apples, pears, peaches,
plums, cherries, and other fruits which it is most advisable to raise
on American farms, and what is the best way to do it. Strawberries,
gooseberries, currants and blackberries have a chapter to themselves,
for of all these there are distinct American varieties--and under
the heading, "Tons of Grapes," the author gives pages of appetizing
information about the fruit which, next to apples, is a prime article
of diet. He shows how you can manage to have grapes six or seven months
every year, and tells what are the best varieties to grow. Every farmer
and owner of a country home should raise grapes. "It is cheaper and
better food than meat and vegetables, and they never tire of it. I
recommend that you go out before breakfast and sample a half-dozen
sorts; repeat the experiment before dinner, and if the digestion is
poor, take nothing else for supper."
Grapes are nothing if not American--that is, some grapes are. They
are indigenous to the soil, growing wild nearly everywhere, from the
extreme south to the banks of the Androscoggin in Maine, where I have
often picked them.
A curious and important difference between grapes in America and in
Europe is noted by Professor Bailey in his "Sketch of the Evolution
of Our Native Fruits." The American grape--that is, the ameliorated
offspring of the native species, "is much unlike the European fruit.
It is essentially a table fruit, whereas the other is a wine fruit.
European writings treat of the vine, but American writings speak of
grapes." Yet it was not till the middle of the nineteenth century that
"the modern table use of the native grape began to be appreciated and
understood."
That grapes were not brought from Europe to America is absolutely
certain. Long before Columbus, there came across the sea Leif, who, in
the words of Justin Winsor, "found vines hung with their fruit, which
induced Leif to call the country Vineland." In New England, Edward
Winslow wrote in 1621 that "here are grapes, white and red, and very
sweet and strong also."
Professor Bailey's book is largely devoted to the men who improved
American fruits--men who, as he justly intimates, deserve commemoration
quite as much as persons who are distinguished in military operations.
But while we, as a nation, have reason to feel proud of the
achievements of these men, a great deal more remains to be done.
Professor Bailey does not say which of our Eastern grapes he considers
the best, but I am sure he would agree with me that the Delaware has a
finer Flavor than any other kind, and of the four chief American grapes
the Delaware is the only one "which gives any very strong evidence of
foreign blood." This point has been disputed; but it is certainly true
that "the types we grow are yet much inferior to the Old World types."
Our Concords, Niagaras, and Catawbas, in particular, are capable of
great improvement in the matter of Flavor. Fortunes are in store for
growers who will take the hint.
It is well to bear in mind that there are varieties, such as the Iona,
Eldorado, Brighton, Worden, Hayes, and Lindley, which, though not to
be found in our wretched markets, are delicious. They are enjoyed by
owners of country residences and their guests, even though city folk
are unaware of their existence.
Altogether, the American grapes have given rise to some eight hundred
domestic varieties, about one hundred of which may be found listed in
catalogues.
Flavors cannot be transplanted. European grapes grown in America get
a different "taste," and the wines made of them have not the same
bouquet. A few exceptions there are, notably the muscatel grape, which
is almost as delicious in California as it is in Spain. But as a rule
it is a waste of money to attempt to duplicate European fruits. Many
millions have been spent in vain efforts to do this. To succeed, we
must be American.
Long ago we learned to enjoy our game and our many varieties of
distinctive sea foods of unique Flavor. Our native vegetables, wild
nuts, fruits, and berries, we also appreciated, but these still
offer limitless opportunities for improvement of their qualities--a
proceeding which pays better than importing things European. Our nuts,
among them the hickory, pine, and black walnut, are delightfully racy
of the soil. They, too, are as American as the Indians, and wherever
possible their intermarriage with our domesticated fruits and berries
is a consummation devoutly to be wished.
Our wild crab-apples, for instance, of which there are five types,
while excessively sour, have a superabundance of flavor. By transfusing
their blood into the domesticated apples we can eliminate the excess of
acid and give to many of our big apples a richer aroma.
The persimmon is one of our native fruits of unlimited possibilities.
Heretofore, our markets have been supplied chiefly with the Japanese
kaki, raised in California or Florida. It is a delicious fruit, but
there are native varieties which in the opinion of some are even finer
than the Japanese. Ordinarily the wild American persimmon is as sour
and astringent as a crabapple, fit only for the 'coon and the 'possum.
But there have been enthusiasts whose belief in the future of our
persimmon amounted to a passion. One of these was Bryant, "whose zeal
as a cultivator and whose interest in fruit-growing were almost as
great as his poetic enthusiasm." To Professor Bailey he expressed his
belief that the finest persimmons of the future would be grown in the
alluvial meadows of southern Indiana.
While the persimmon is as delicious as the banana, the demand for it
has not been so great as it will be when the public learns that this
fruit has the finest Flavor and is most wholesome when it looks like an
overripe tomato which no one would buy. An Italian pushcart man used to
smile when he saw me approaching. He knew I would pick out those which
were so soft that they could be taken home only in a paper box. "Ah,
you know, you know!" he used to say, pleased that his best things were
not left on his hands by the uninformed multitude.
As a boy I used to enjoy hugely the May apple--a plum-shaped fruit
growing on a low plant. What was my indignation when, some years later,
I began to study botany and found in Professor Asa Gray's text book a
description of that fruit, ending with the words: "Eaten by pigs and
boys." I promptly made up my mind that if adults do not relish this
luscious fruit they have something to learn from pigs and boys.
Another Southern fruit, abundant in Missouri, which greatly pleased my
boyish palate, was the pawpaw. Professor Bailey says that most people
do not relish its flavor, nor does he believe that it will be possible
to awaken much interest in this fruit. Mr. Powell, on the other hand,
pays it a high tribute. He sees "no reason why this delicious fruit, a
sort of hardy banana, should not be grown everywhere in our gardens."
Those are the words of an epicure. I am sure the pawpaw has a great
future. To many it may be an acquired taste, but so are olives, and the
most appetizing of all table delicacies, Russian caviare. I thank my
stars that I always took naturally to such things; it has added much
to the pleasures of life. So far as pawpaws are concerned, it will
be easier to persuade skeptics to try to learn to like them if they
are told that their juice is considered by medical men a great aid to
digestion. Papain is much used as a substitute for soda mints.