Mutsu (Crispin)

I often refer to different apple varieties as either “heritage” or “modern,” fully

recognizing that these terms are just shorthand, fluid and not especially relevant.

For our purposes, though,“heritage” refers to a variety that’s been around for at

least 100 years—typically ones that originated prior to 1900. Mutsu, which first

fruited in 1937, thus belongs to the “modern” filing cabinet in my head. For years

it’s been grown as a popular market apple in North America and Europe, as well as

in its native Japan. In the UK and Europe, it’s called ‘Crispin’, which is certainly

descriptive. Yet I prefer the American name, ‘Mutsu’, which honors the region of

northern Honshu where it was developed.

Specifically, Mutsu was bred as an intentional cross between Golden

Delicious and Indo, another Japanese variety. In size and shape it is certainly closer

to Indo than Golden Delicious, but with a smooth surface rather than the ribbed

appearance of its Japanese parent. It was developed at the famous Aomori

Research Station, and first introduced to the US in 1948. (Both Japan and the US

were rather preoccupied, to say the least, during the preceding decade.)

Mutsu is a wonderful apple that possesses many fine qualities and few if any

negative ones. It is sweet and crunchy, with breaking, very juicy, yellow flesh (a

hallmark of so many of our truly modern “supermarket” apples today). But the

flavor, given the right seasonal growing conditions, has a pleasing spicy note that

some people perceive as anise (though never in an in-your-face way for those, like

me, who are not big fans of licorice). The apple is versatile: it’s great for fresh

eating; the slices hold their shape in cooking; it stores beautifully through the winter

without shriveling; and it makes good juice or cider.

In Japan the apple is often grow in paper bags on the tree, to prevent insect

damage and to produce cosmetically perfect, almost Platonic, apples that are sold

for large sums of money. The Japanese have a passion for growing and purchasing

“perfect” fruits to give as gifts on special occasions. A bit obsessive, perhaps, but it

wouldn’t hurt Americans to occasionally adopt a more reverential attitude toward

our orchard fruits, and the people who grow them, rather than a strictly

commercial or utilitarian view.

The first time I focused seriously on Mutsu was when I experimented with

fermenting a number of single-variety ciders just to see what they would taste like. I

used to buy Mutsu apples as late as Valentine’s Day at an orchard in Londonderry,

New Hampshire—a town that once boasted no fewer than five apple orchards.

Today only one survives: Mack’s Apples. The rest have been bulldozed and today

grow only houses, apartments, and shopping centers for the burgeoning population

of commuters to nearby Boston. But as is typical with this sort of rapid and rampant 

growth, the names of these ex-urban developments bear names that mock

the very nature and culture of what they have supplanted: Apple Hill, Deer Run,

etc.

At any rate, at the end of the storage season Mack’s not only had bins of

lovely Mutsus sitting around the barn but also their own single-variety Mutsu sweet

cider. Like some other apples (Golden Russet comes to mind), Mutsu makes a

delicious, refreshing juice all by itself. It has a lot of sweetness, which makes it a

good candidate for fermentation, and in fact it does produce a decent alcoholic

cider. However, as is the case with Golden Russet, in my opinion the single-variety

hard cider is rather one-dimensional. That’s not a knock on it—it’s just that few

apples achieve a “vintage quality” all by themselves, and they tend to improve

greatly with the addition of juice from at least one other apple variety with

complementary qualities.