Saturday 21 May 2011

Cameron Highlands Apples

You would be forgiven if you thought "Oh no, she got conned again with another dodgy apple from Cameron Highlands" (see Conned: Hybrid Guava Apple It Is Not). Forgiven, but wrong.  


My first thought when I walked into a farm and saw these plants was "What are these? Eggplants??" I wasn't alone in thinking that. A woman very authoritatively told her husband and kids that those were definitely eggplants. However, I wasn't as hundred percent sure as she was. And hubby was certain those were not eggplants. So I went and asked one of the farmhands. He said those were apples. Apples?? Yes, Cameron Highlands' very own apples. Are they sour or sweet? Sweet. They taste like honeydew. Ohhh.....

The farmhand said all the riped ones had been plucked. Being someone who loved to try new things, I didn't want to go home without getting some. After badgering him, he said if I saw any that was yellow with red stripes, I could pluck those. But I'd have to keep them in room temperature for about two days for them to completely ripen, otherwise they won't taste good.


Ready to be plucked, and should ripen in two days

We only managed to find six apples that could be plucked. I guess there must have been a lot of tourists that visited during the May 1st holiday, as this is not the peak season. 

Today, three of the apples ripened and they exuded a rich honeydew smell. After chilling them in the fridge for a few hours, we sank our teeth into them. And......they were wonderful. Very juicy, juicier than regular honeydew, and sweet, those apples taste exactly like honeydew. The skin was a little funny, though. Felt like plastic. I couldn't peel them with a peeler, but after I had cut them, I could peel it off by pulling at the edge and dragging it off in one neat tug. Another hybrid??!! But the farmhand did NOT say it's a hybrid apple-honeydew......



The apples were very juicy and sweet