Often in these profiles we talk about apples that some sharp-eyed farmer or
intrepid fruit detective has saved from oblivion—varieties that were thought to be
“lost” or functionally extinct. But just as often there are apples that once were
popular on the market but whose availability has waned with the changing tastes
and times. Such an apple is the Hauer Pippin.
In the late 2000s I traveled to the central coast of California for an annual
ecological farming conference, and there I met a local Slow Food chapter leader
who first told me about Hauer Pippin. At the time I was a co-chair of Slow Food
USA’s Ark of Taste Committee, and the prospect of adding a worthy heritage
apple that originated in California excited me. She sent some apples to me, and
once we’d had a chance to taste them, it was clear that we should add this variety
to the Ark of Taste—a program aimed and recognizing and promoting special but
underappreciated foods and food traditions. Hauer Pippin was “boarded” on the
Ark in 2009.
The apple is named after Peter Hauer, who first grew it in the 1890s in
Santa Cruz County, California. The “pippin” part of the name indicates an apple
grown from a seed or “pip,” and in this case the parent variety was the classic
English dessert apple, Cox’s Orange Pippin. Another probable pollen parent is the
Yellow Bellflower.
Hauer Pippin was quite popular on the San Francisco market in the 1930s,
and because of its thick skin and excellent keeping qualities it shipped beautifully,
even reportedly being shipped through the Panama Canal to London, where it
commanded a high price as a specialty apple. However, over the years its
popularity faded compared to other, newer varieties. Today, though, it’s having a
bit of a rebound, thanks in large part to the proliferation of local farmers markets.
My own experience with this apple is quite limited, given that it ripens too
late to grow in the Northeast. In fact, it’s often known as the “Christmas apple”
since it is generally harvested very late in the year in California. However, in
addition to the description below, I would add that my first taste of Hauer Pippin
led me to describe its flavor as “bready” or “biscuity,” which I found quite unusual
for an apple. But taste is very much a personal thing, and what I was tasting could
have been the spicy and aromatic notes mentioned by other sources. Or it could
have been that the flavors simply hadn’t developed fully at the stage where I tasted
it.