Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Scuppernongs--The Taste of Fall

Scuppernongs as defined by Wikipedia--A scuppernong (also called "scuppernine" or "suscadine" in parts of Georgia, and "suppeydine" or "scuppeydime" in central and Western North Carolina), is a large type of muscadine, a type of grape native to the southeastern United States. It is usually a greenish or bronze color and is similar in appearance and texture to a white grape, but rounder and about 50% larger and first known as the 'big white grape'.

The fruit of my childhood. Daddy had a huge scuppernong arbor. As children we climbed in it, played house under it and used it as a hiding place during a game of hide and seek. But come September you could smell the fruit on the vine. The smell and taste of scuppernongs bring back a flood of childhood memories for me. My sisters and I picked the ripe fruit which our parents took to work and sold for a quarter a quart. This was our fair money to spend each year when the Anderson County Fair came to town. My dad now has a smaller arbor but the fruit smells and tastes exactly the same. Want to know what fall tastes like--a scuppernong. At least it tastes like fall to me.

1 comment:

Lessie said...

What a beautiful post -- with a a beautiful photo! I was walking recently (in the woods kinda) and noticed the smell of what I think of as muscadines...I wonder if my muscadines and your scuppernongs are the same! It was a rich and memory-bringing smell. Thanks for your post.