As a kid, my mom (an early devotee of Adelle Davis) threw an apple into every one of my sack lunches. Unfortunately as a kid who started going to school in the early sixties, there were two basic choices, Red Delicious or Macintosh. Red Delicious were mealy, fairly tasteless and sometimes waxy. Macintosh had a foul acrid taste and usually were used for some sort of target practice. I would occasionally sample a Jonathan that some friend's mom would be using for cooking - a friend used to eat them salted - and maybe a Northern Spy, Winesap or Golden Delicious if I was really lucky.
As an adult I had a job once that took me on many backroads of the country. I remember enormous old heirloom apples in Northern Michigan and upstate New York, some of them specialty apples that had grown in their villages for hundreds of years. Very good actually.
I think that we are in a golden age of apple eating at present. About 20 years ago, Fujis hit the scene and raised the bar to unseen heights. Dessert apples from Japan, Israel and New Zealand exponentially increased sweetness and made apple eating a true pleasure again. Galas, Mutsus, Braeburns. Ambrosias. Hopefully the red delicious has been relegated to the apple bin of obscurity.
My two favorite apples are Honeycrisps and Pink Lady's. The former is a perfect balance of sweet and tart but has a very short harvest in September. I thought. My wife just sent me downtown to Major Market where they are on sale for sixty nine cents a pound. Wonder where they are from? Maybe offshore...That's real cheap as they can push three bucks in the fall. These might be organic, a little misshapen but they are honeycrisps all right. Round honey taste, with a bit more character than a Fuji.
The Pink Lady is tarter and dare I say prettier. Like it's moniker, it's got a schoolgirl's light pink blush. Probably great in a pie.
Can any of the old heirlooms give these apples a race? Love some feedback on your favorites. Heres a link to the all about apples website.
7 comments:
Pink Ladies are the best i've bitten into; will hightail it down to Major tomorrow, in search of Honeycrisp; as a kid living on an army base in Germany i remember poaching green apples from an adjacent orchard; ach du lieber, were they good; couldn't tell you what variety they were, though; a buddy of mine years ago, a baker, told me Winesaps were best for apple pie; red and gold delish are just ok; Fuji and Gala are much better; mostly now, i just eat apple sauce.
Jonagolds, Galas, Fujis, yes-yes-yes!!
Oh, how embarassing...better clean that up.
Anyway, I have become an apple nut since living in Washington, the local organic varieties available are phenomenal.
For medicinal purposes as well, I eat one after dinner every night, reduces the likelihood and strength of reflux without medication that screws up your body's natural acid balance.
Let me ask you bro, how far do your apples travel on average? I know what I am eating now is coming all the way from NZ. What is the carbon footprint of that Gala?
Yo bro, not much in the way of local apples over here, but I want to point out an interesting read; Michael Pollan's "Botany of Desire" has a great chapter on apples (along with tulips, marijuana, and potatoes...)In a short review I read; "He masterfully links four fundamental human desires, sweetness, beauty, intoxication, and control, with the plants that satisfy them: the apple, the tulip, marijuana, and the potato. In telling the stories of four familiar species, Pollan illustrates how the plants have evolved to satisfy humankind's most basic yearnings. And just as we've benefited from these plants, the plants have also benefited at least as much from their association with us. So who is really domesticating whom?"
Shawn, I can sense you through your anonymous mask. Thanks for writing. Your friend forever.
Robert
Actually, the off season honeycrisps kind of suck - they might even be mislabeled. If you are new to the apple wait for the fall.
yeah, i bought a Honeycrisp a few days ago just to try it; it was ok but nothing special; will try again in the fall...
Sorry grumpster - those were sixty five cent impostors - wait until september...
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