Yes, yes, I know I've already chewed your ear about the wonders of the Concord grape, but I simply must convince you somehow of the absolute necessity of getting your hands on these beauties before they slip away. Run, don't walk, to your nearest farmers market and buy great heaps of them. If nothing else, you will swoon at the smell, perfuming whatever room you set them in. I just learned that they are known as Vitis labrusca, the "fox grape," because of their special "foxy musk," a candied-strawberry aroma that verges on the pornographic. Be very jealous, because our nearby Riverbrook Farm also grows a green variety called Himrod that is every bit as voluptuous and tangy. I can't decided which color I have a bigger crush on. I made juice with the green and sorbet with the purple, and you'll be doing yourself a favor if you try both. Plus they're full of flavonoids and positively bursting with antioxidant benefits.
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I was in the city this week (I'm taking a novel-writing workshop at the New School that meets on Monday evenings) and couldn't resist these gorgeously purple, dusky and enticingly fragrant Concord grapes I came across at the farmers market. Plus I had seen Meredith Kurtzman's recipe for sorbet in New York magazine and was dying to try it. I tweaked it a little bit because I'm always looking for good ways to justify the $30 tin of fennel pollen I bought at the Demon (aka Dean & Deluca). It was SO GOOD—mouthpuckeringly tart and yet just sweet enough, full of the grapiest grape flavor ever (like Welch's on acid), and with that essential counterpoint of salt. WOW. Not to mention all the wonderful antioxidants. You simply have to make this whenever you can get your hands on some beautiful, organic Concords.
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My apologies for the wordplay. I simply can't resist. The talented farmers up the road from us at River Brook Farm in Cochecton grow a few grapes and I was lucky enough to get my hands on some. These green beauties had the most amazing smell! I don't know which variety they are but they were bursting with fruity flavor, sweet and tart and juicy. I was beside myself trying to come up with a way of using them and I finally decided to make a syrupy juice that could be diluted with water. Of course, we ate quite a few of them as a snack and now that I've been clued in to the nutritional benefits of the seeds, I have taken to chewing them (not that bad) or simply swallowing them whole (less bother).
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