We Are Living in a Golden Age of Apples
October 24, 2024 11:07 PM Subscribe
I studied applied economics at the University of MN which is on the agricultural side of the campus, in St. Paul. The lore I was told was that they almost threw the honeycrisp out - it was actually in a discard box and would have never been cultivated - but then somebody was hungry and grabbed one for a snack and then made everybody else try them.
Just as interesting, the University released the apple with very little cost to growers to get initial graftings. Apples do not have seed stable genetics, so the seeds of a Honeycrisp will not grow a Honeycrisp apple; all cultivation is done through grafting (the same is true of oranges). Because of this, plus the apple's immense popularity, it single handedly saved thousands of family apple orchards from the brink of bankruptcy. All apples since then have been an effort to recreate the consumer excitement and revenue potential of the honeycrisp, but with much stricter IP, so that the University makes the money and not the farmers.
posted by Smedly, Butlerian jihadi at 4:19 AM on October 25, 2024 [13 favorites]
Just as interesting, the University released the apple with very little cost to growers to get initial graftings. Apples do not have seed stable genetics, so the seeds of a Honeycrisp will not grow a Honeycrisp apple; all cultivation is done through grafting (the same is true of oranges). Because of this, plus the apple's immense popularity, it single handedly saved thousands of family apple orchards from the brink of bankruptcy. All apples since then have been an effort to recreate the consumer excitement and revenue potential of the honeycrisp, but with much stricter IP, so that the University makes the money and not the farmers.
posted by Smedly, Butlerian jihadi at 4:19 AM on October 25, 2024 [13 favorites]
I love this thanks! I lived near apple country at a time the [yet to be named] supposed successor of the Honeycrisp was being developed and expanded. I remember the rumor mill. Something was out there... Americans love different style of apples than others, loving both sweet and crisp with some but not too much sour. East Asians more sour less sweet. etc. "It's a derivative of Honeycrisp and just more, more of everything... you'll know by the name..." It takes something like 15 years to go from a new variety to mass market.
I imaged an apple as saccharine as a dream, only enough sour to make your mouth water, and the crisp to make your head physically explode from the cavitation of a single bite.... I've only guessed since then it was the "Cosmic Crisp." I still remember the first Pink Ladies and Honeycrisps before they were watered down, corrupted, by mass markets. :)
posted by rubatan at 4:53 AM on October 25, 2024 [2 favorites]
I imaged an apple as saccharine as a dream, only enough sour to make your mouth water, and the crisp to make your head physically explode from the cavitation of a single bite.... I've only guessed since then it was the "Cosmic Crisp." I still remember the first Pink Ladies and Honeycrisps before they were watered down, corrupted, by mass markets. :)
posted by rubatan at 4:53 AM on October 25, 2024 [2 favorites]
I've tried Honeycrisp and Fuji but my favorite is still the McIntosh, the does-it-all apple.
Also, the name Red Delicious is an oxymoron.
posted by tommasz at 5:03 AM on October 25, 2024 [8 favorites]
Also, the name Red Delicious is an oxymoron.
posted by tommasz at 5:03 AM on October 25, 2024 [8 favorites]
Yeah, a small Macintosh is my fave. Tart-sweet and delish!
posted by sixswitch at 5:05 AM on October 25, 2024 [2 favorites]
posted by sixswitch at 5:05 AM on October 25, 2024 [2 favorites]
I was just thinking, this is one of the things that has truly gotten better since I was a child. Apples SUCKED when I was a kid. Now they're great!
posted by jordemort at 5:21 AM on October 25, 2024 [4 favorites]
posted by jordemort at 5:21 AM on October 25, 2024 [4 favorites]
I always fall back on my McIntosh. Perfect for eating on the run or baking into a delicious pie. Sometimes a golden delicious can be tasty. Those little lady apples I don't get it.
posted by Czjewel at 5:24 AM on October 25, 2024 [1 favorite]
posted by Czjewel at 5:24 AM on October 25, 2024 [1 favorite]
We don’t have the same variety of apples in Southern California that a lot of places do ( I envy your Cox’s Orange Pippins) but Opals are available and fantastic. Very crunchy, complex flavor.
posted by corey flood at 5:35 AM on October 25, 2024 [1 favorite]
posted by corey flood at 5:35 AM on October 25, 2024 [1 favorite]
I'm sure it's regional but I can't remember the last time I even saw a McIntosh apple in a store. I dig the Cosmic Crisps and Sweet Tangos. My fave is the Wild Twist hybrid of Honeycrisp and Pink Lady.
posted by HumanComplex at 6:40 AM on October 25, 2024
posted by HumanComplex at 6:40 AM on October 25, 2024
Oh my gosh, I am surprised to see all the McIntosh love in this thread. My sister also loves these. My memory of a McIntosh apple, and the reason I haven't eaten one in decades, is because (growing up in New England) they were soft and mealy, not good! I mostly had red delicious, which used to be good, I think? But haven't been in ages.
I switched to Fuji for a long time, then last couple of years, Envy apples - very crisp! Sweet but not too sweet. But recently, the Envy has not been good (less crisp) and I have switched to Honeycrisp. The end.
Popchart has some cool apple posters.
posted by Glinn at 6:50 AM on October 25, 2024 [1 favorite]
I switched to Fuji for a long time, then last couple of years, Envy apples - very crisp! Sweet but not too sweet. But recently, the Envy has not been good (less crisp) and I have switched to Honeycrisp. The end.
Popchart has some cool apple posters.
posted by Glinn at 6:50 AM on October 25, 2024 [1 favorite]
For friends passing through farmers' markets in NY, I highly recommend you try Ruby Frost apples, Mutsu apples, and Candy Crisps!
posted by prefpara at 7:11 AM on October 25, 2024 [2 favorites]
posted by prefpara at 7:11 AM on October 25, 2024 [2 favorites]
Red Delicious suck but honestly Honey Crisps and many new varieties are too sweet to use as a lunch apple. They do taste good but sometimes I want a snack, not a sugar bomb. Same is true for sweetcorn. Modern supersweet varieties have like 15x the sugar of merely "sweet" varieties of the early 1950s. If my grandpa lived to taste these, he would say this stuff is good candy, but not a meal.
(Cosmic crisp and even good ol' Fuji beat Honeycrisp on overall performance imo)
posted by SaltySalticid at 7:14 AM on October 25, 2024 [5 favorites]
(Cosmic crisp and even good ol' Fuji beat Honeycrisp on overall performance imo)
posted by SaltySalticid at 7:14 AM on October 25, 2024 [5 favorites]
A year ago I visited the Royal Horticultural Society’s orchard, where they maintain many dozens of varieties. We walked up and down the rows and could pluck the apples off small trees.
I tasted more varieties that one day, by far, than the rest of my entire life. A favorite: the Cornish Gillyflower, which has a flavor element of cloves—really unusual and good. I went home with a mixed bag and ate apples all weekend.
posted by librosegretti at 7:19 AM on October 25, 2024 [5 favorites]
I tasted more varieties that one day, by far, than the rest of my entire life. A favorite: the Cornish Gillyflower, which has a flavor element of cloves—really unusual and good. I went home with a mixed bag and ate apples all weekend.
posted by librosegretti at 7:19 AM on October 25, 2024 [5 favorites]
Honeycrisps (not available in Europe to my knowledge) and Cosmic Crisps (cultivated on license for the EU in the Tyrol) are a great snacking variety sweet fruit, but I hesitate to call them great apples because their flavor profile lacks the nuances of heritage varieties. But for cold-storability and transport they are great for enjoying even off season. We've had a bumper crop this year and I've been enjoying gleaning the excesses of the court's Åkerö variety here in Stockholm.
posted by St. Oops at 7:25 AM on October 25, 2024 [3 favorites]
posted by St. Oops at 7:25 AM on October 25, 2024 [3 favorites]
Reporting in from Minnesota, the land of Honeycrisp and all its heirs.
Part of me hates the restrictions we are putting on new apples, but the one thing I love about the new licensed apples is that they are keeping people from selling a two year old Cosmic Crisp. Honeycrisp is a great fresh apple, but too many on the market right now are cellared to have stock year round. I think Honeycrisp cellars as well as any apple, but I dramatically prefer a fresh apple.
Once, years ago, I walked an orchard and tasted an apple that was like a dream. I asked, what is this amazing apple? And to my extraordinary surprise, the answer was... Red Delicious. Most at the stores have been cellared for ages, and most that are grown commercially have drifted from the original taste. But that one apple, in some Virginia orchard I'll never find again, was a true treat.
posted by advicepig at 7:34 AM on October 25, 2024 [5 favorites]
Part of me hates the restrictions we are putting on new apples, but the one thing I love about the new licensed apples is that they are keeping people from selling a two year old Cosmic Crisp. Honeycrisp is a great fresh apple, but too many on the market right now are cellared to have stock year round. I think Honeycrisp cellars as well as any apple, but I dramatically prefer a fresh apple.
Once, years ago, I walked an orchard and tasted an apple that was like a dream. I asked, what is this amazing apple? And to my extraordinary surprise, the answer was... Red Delicious. Most at the stores have been cellared for ages, and most that are grown commercially have drifted from the original taste. But that one apple, in some Virginia orchard I'll never find again, was a true treat.
posted by advicepig at 7:34 AM on October 25, 2024 [5 favorites]
Honeycrisp, Fuji, Pink Lady, Jonagold ... I get whatever is on sale that day. Nothing else really works for me. They're either too mealy, too sour, too much skin ...
posted by indianbadger1 at 7:35 AM on October 25, 2024 [1 favorite]
posted by indianbadger1 at 7:35 AM on October 25, 2024 [1 favorite]
SweeTango, without a doubt. They've just come into our stores within the last few weeks and my spouse and I are eating at least one a day.
I've always been sort of underwhelmed by the Honeycrisps I've tried, but maybe I should try the CosmicCrisp? Are they more tart than Honeycrisps?
posted by dlugoczaj at 7:54 AM on October 25, 2024
I've always been sort of underwhelmed by the Honeycrisps I've tried, but maybe I should try the CosmicCrisp? Are they more tart than Honeycrisps?
posted by dlugoczaj at 7:54 AM on October 25, 2024
Years ago, I loved Honeycrisp when they first arrived at the local Kroger.
But they are quite bad out of season. They only seemed tasty and juicy from their first arrival in early fall to maybe November or so? I just don't buy them at all anymore, it's too unpredictable. I suppose this is the giant grocery chain transporting and storing problem. The stores seem to value appearance and giant size over flavor anyway.
posted by jjj606 at 8:38 AM on October 25, 2024 [4 favorites]
But they are quite bad out of season. They only seemed tasty and juicy from their first arrival in early fall to maybe November or so? I just don't buy them at all anymore, it's too unpredictable. I suppose this is the giant grocery chain transporting and storing problem. The stores seem to value appearance and giant size over flavor anyway.
posted by jjj606 at 8:38 AM on October 25, 2024 [4 favorites]
Winesap here. I like 'em tart and crisp.
And this is why us weirdo foodies who yammer on about the evils of monoculture were doing so.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 8:57 AM on October 25, 2024 [7 favorites]
And this is why us weirdo foodies who yammer on about the evils of monoculture were doing so.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 8:57 AM on October 25, 2024 [7 favorites]
Just came here to winesap! Perfect for all occasions and beautiful.
posted by Captaintripps at 9:09 AM on October 25, 2024 [2 favorites]
posted by Captaintripps at 9:09 AM on October 25, 2024 [2 favorites]
I just bought some Ludacrisp apples. Haven't tasted them yet, but that name. Ludacrisp.
posted by slogger at 9:22 AM on October 25, 2024 [4 favorites]
posted by slogger at 9:22 AM on October 25, 2024 [4 favorites]
My CSA membership is through a local farm that is primarily an apple farm, and I am lucky enough to get a wide variety of apples to try. They grow 17 varieties and we get a bunch of different apples just at peak ripeness, which has absolutely spoiled us on supermarket apples. Ruby Frost is a recent favorite, and Gingergold disappear very quickly. Good apples are so wonderful.
posted by SeedStitch at 9:50 AM on October 25, 2024 [3 favorites]
posted by SeedStitch at 9:50 AM on October 25, 2024 [3 favorites]
Honestly I'm kinda meh on Honeycrisp. I thought I liked them, and maybe I'll have to try again - perhaps just got a "bad" batch, but while they were super sweet, but it was neither mealy nor crunchy. Crisp? I guess on the skin. It's hard to describe, but the sweetness was also just... IDK. Middle of the road sweet. Maybe I need more tart to perk up my tongue.
I've liked Gala and Fuji, but lately I'm really on a McIntosh kick. Something about them are just right, maybe it's the season IDK.
Red "Delicious" can DIAF. Also - not sure if this was mentioned but Golden Delicious are not related to Red Delicious, but I don't want to try them because I'm afraid they'll be shit like Red Delicious. Apparently Red Delicious was good before it got hyper commoditized. I imagine this will happen to some of these apples unless they have other traits that last longer than the og Reds. (Same thing is happening to Jalapenos - breeding bigger blander jalapenos for canners to add more capsaicin for heat and control it, and more "sellable" on shelf cuz "bigger=better" except when it comes to flavor. Thanks A&M).
I used to love Granny Smith (still do) but I think McIntosh hits the spot with just a bit more sweetness while still being tart.
posted by symbioid at 9:58 AM on October 25, 2024
I've liked Gala and Fuji, but lately I'm really on a McIntosh kick. Something about them are just right, maybe it's the season IDK.
Red "Delicious" can DIAF. Also - not sure if this was mentioned but Golden Delicious are not related to Red Delicious, but I don't want to try them because I'm afraid they'll be shit like Red Delicious. Apparently Red Delicious was good before it got hyper commoditized. I imagine this will happen to some of these apples unless they have other traits that last longer than the og Reds. (Same thing is happening to Jalapenos - breeding bigger blander jalapenos for canners to add more capsaicin for heat and control it, and more "sellable" on shelf cuz "bigger=better" except when it comes to flavor. Thanks A&M).
I used to love Granny Smith (still do) but I think McIntosh hits the spot with just a bit more sweetness while still being tart.
posted by symbioid at 9:58 AM on October 25, 2024
The story I had heard was that the revolution was really about licensing -- the newer apples have a lot more restrictions on growers that ensure consistent quality. (I think the article alludes to this with the comment about long-cellared Honeycrisps, which Cosmic Crisp seemingly disallows.)
The revolution for me was tasting my first Fuji in 1994, and I think a good Fuji is actually better than the *crisps (which I agree are a bit one-note), but it quickly became fruitlessly hard to find a good one, because there was apparently no real control over what got labeled "Fuji" so the quality was all over the place.
posted by bjrubble at 10:03 AM on October 25, 2024 [4 favorites]
The revolution for me was tasting my first Fuji in 1994, and I think a good Fuji is actually better than the *crisps (which I agree are a bit one-note), but it quickly became fruitlessly hard to find a good one, because there was apparently no real control over what got labeled "Fuji" so the quality was all over the place.
posted by bjrubble at 10:03 AM on October 25, 2024 [4 favorites]
I just bought some Ludacrisp apples. Haven't tasted them yet, but that name. Ludacrisp.
"Captain, I'm hungry."
"We all are. Good thing Ramadan is over."
"Oooh, and just in time for apple season!"
"Prepare ship for... Ludacrisp Eid."
posted by aws17576 at 10:15 AM on October 25, 2024 [5 favorites]
"Captain, I'm hungry."
"We all are. Good thing Ramadan is over."
"Oooh, and just in time for apple season!"
"Prepare ship for... Ludacrisp Eid."
posted by aws17576 at 10:15 AM on October 25, 2024 [5 favorites]
I like Cosmic Crisp but it sounds like a bad edible sold under the counter at a gas station.
posted by downtohisturtles at 10:16 AM on October 25, 2024 [3 favorites]
posted by downtohisturtles at 10:16 AM on October 25, 2024 [3 favorites]
tommasz: "I've tried Honeycrisp and Fuji but my favorite is still the McIntosh, the does-it-all apple."
In season, especially when freshly picked? Hard agree. McIntosh was my mom's favorite too.
Unfortunately one that has sat for a while is not so good for eating - great for baking or sauce, but it loses that crisp tart snap it has when fresh, so the texture isn't as good once it has aged.
Honeycrisp suffered by being grown outside of the recommended areas. It's a Midwestern apple, it needs cold weather. If you grow it in too warm an area, the fruit ends up more bland. A good fresh one is so firm and crunchy that it almost makes you think it would crack into pieces if you drop it.
I'm currently pissed that here in Minneapolis, in the middle of apple season, in the heart of apple country, Target - a company headquartered in Minneapolis - refuses to carry apples that were grown here. What the fuck, Target? Stop trucking shitty apples in from out of state.
posted by caution live frogs at 10:28 AM on October 25, 2024 [2 favorites]
In season, especially when freshly picked? Hard agree. McIntosh was my mom's favorite too.
Unfortunately one that has sat for a while is not so good for eating - great for baking or sauce, but it loses that crisp tart snap it has when fresh, so the texture isn't as good once it has aged.
Honeycrisp suffered by being grown outside of the recommended areas. It's a Midwestern apple, it needs cold weather. If you grow it in too warm an area, the fruit ends up more bland. A good fresh one is so firm and crunchy that it almost makes you think it would crack into pieces if you drop it.
I'm currently pissed that here in Minneapolis, in the middle of apple season, in the heart of apple country, Target - a company headquartered in Minneapolis - refuses to carry apples that were grown here. What the fuck, Target? Stop trucking shitty apples in from out of state.
posted by caution live frogs at 10:28 AM on October 25, 2024 [2 favorites]
I've been a member of a fruit CSA from Colorado's Western Slope, and it has totally transformed my relationship to fruit. Eating stuff that's in-season (and within trucking distance) makes a big difference. When the apples and pears stop being from Colorado, it's time to switch to mandarins. When the mandarins give out, it's Argentine pears - pears are unusually good travelers because of the whole ripening-inside-out thing. Then a couple of months of frozen or whatever. Then strawberries. The best part of this is that I'm usually ready to let one season's fruit go, and thrilled to dive into the next.
Jonathans! Esopus! I really need to get out to New England for a tasting tour someday... all those funky old varieties.
posted by McBearclaw at 10:37 AM on October 25, 2024
Jonathans! Esopus! I really need to get out to New England for a tasting tour someday... all those funky old varieties.
posted by McBearclaw at 10:37 AM on October 25, 2024
Most of the apples sold in stores now are too sweet for me. The less-sweet varieties are now hard to find. I've found just one supermarket in my city with Golden Delicious and so far have found none of my favorite, Braeburn.
posted by neuron at 10:51 AM on October 25, 2024
posted by neuron at 10:51 AM on October 25, 2024
We went apple picking last weekend, and I had Pinova apples, which taste of coconut and pineapple. I thought they were delicious, although apparently opinions differ and some people hold them to be verging on inedible. I don't remember ever eating an apple that tasted like anything other than an apple, and even then a BAD apple, when I was a kid. Truly a golden age.
posted by 1adam12 at 11:24 AM on October 25, 2024
posted by 1adam12 at 11:24 AM on October 25, 2024
Winter apples aren’t supposed to be crisp; a good keeping variety develops more complex flavors while losing water. One effect is that you don’t have to cook them as long to drive the water off, so you keep more of the flavors.
“Cellaring” apples in modern cold storage burns energy to get worse winter apples, but at least they look better? Well… nice old people used to be described as having faces like winter apples, wrinkled and sound and sweet; maybe we’ve just refused the ability to see some kinds of beauty.
posted by clew at 11:40 AM on October 25, 2024 [1 favorite]
“Cellaring” apples in modern cold storage burns energy to get worse winter apples, but at least they look better? Well… nice old people used to be described as having faces like winter apples, wrinkled and sound and sweet; maybe we’ve just refused the ability to see some kinds of beauty.
posted by clew at 11:40 AM on October 25, 2024 [1 favorite]
Honeycrisps were my fave for a long time, but they're often enormous. Like, twice the amount of apple I'd normally eat in one stretch. I've been on an Envy kick lately.
posted by mykescipark at 12:07 PM on October 25, 2024
posted by mykescipark at 12:07 PM on October 25, 2024
This is the reverse of my experience, as growing up we had excellent Braeburn apples, and other varieties, and now the supermarkets here are full of quite tedious apples. Sure, they’re all solid, unbruised, and have a flavour, but I wouldn’t describe them as complex. They’re… apple. Just appley, a lot of the time. I think there’s a lot of breeding for transport and storage, less for complex tastes.
posted by The River Ivel at 12:29 PM on October 25, 2024 [3 favorites]
posted by The River Ivel at 12:29 PM on October 25, 2024 [3 favorites]
Breeding for sugar and storage, anyway.
Claiming that the current system produces the best apples ever is sure handy for anyone who wants fruit to be controlled as IP. I am sympathetic to scientists and farmers who want more money but dubious that this will work out well for them in the long run.
posted by clew at 12:42 PM on October 25, 2024 [2 favorites]
Claiming that the current system produces the best apples ever is sure handy for anyone who wants fruit to be controlled as IP. I am sympathetic to scientists and farmers who want more money but dubious that this will work out well for them in the long run.
posted by clew at 12:42 PM on October 25, 2024 [2 favorites]
My father in law (89 years old) loves soft, mealy apples. He detests modern crisp apples. I don't get it.
posted by SoberHighland at 1:17 PM on October 25, 2024
posted by SoberHighland at 1:17 PM on October 25, 2024
The Cosmic Crisps from various retailers have been consistently great. Absolute family preference now.
posted by ericales at 1:18 PM on October 25, 2024 [2 favorites]
posted by ericales at 1:18 PM on October 25, 2024 [2 favorites]
How could I not mention the Gravenstein?! An amazing apple I worry is endangered. Makes a wonderful hard cider, too.
posted by Captaintripps at 1:21 PM on October 25, 2024 [1 favorite]
posted by Captaintripps at 1:21 PM on October 25, 2024 [1 favorite]
Russets are much loved in my house, but vehemently not loved by AppleRankings.
They don’t look like much, but they are really quite good.
posted by eekernohan at 1:28 PM on October 25, 2024 [1 favorite]
They don’t look like much, but they are really quite good.
posted by eekernohan at 1:28 PM on October 25, 2024 [1 favorite]
have none of you had a Sugar Bee???? they are sooooooo wonderful
posted by supermedusa at 1:35 PM on October 25, 2024
posted by supermedusa at 1:35 PM on October 25, 2024
Maybe I didn't have a good honey crisp, but I wasn't all that into it. My favorite is still the Ambrosia variety.
posted by extramundane at 1:49 PM on October 25, 2024 [1 favorite]
posted by extramundane at 1:49 PM on October 25, 2024 [1 favorite]
There is an orchard near me that has an apple called Cinnamon Crisp, and it is my current favorite. I live in apple country, and have loads to choose from. So lucky!
posted by tarantula at 1:56 PM on October 25, 2024 [1 favorite]
posted by tarantula at 1:56 PM on October 25, 2024 [1 favorite]
Gravenstein or GTFO
posted by ivan ivanych samovar at 2:58 PM on October 25, 2024
posted by ivan ivanych samovar at 2:58 PM on October 25, 2024
In a world where pears exist it's hard for me to even like apples, but honeycrisps definitely put them back on my radar. I mean I'd still eat a raw quince over an apple, but at least I like apples a little bit now.
posted by BrotherCaine at 3:06 PM on October 25, 2024
posted by BrotherCaine at 3:06 PM on October 25, 2024
I'm old enough to remember when Galas were awesome (let's say 1981 or so).
I've seen some new varietals around Vancouver that I would highly recommend
for an eating apple: Nicola, Salish, and Gina. But for making your own applesauce,
nothing beats a dozen fresh macs and a tsp of cinnamon
posted by morspin at 10:13 PM on October 25, 2024
I've seen some new varietals around Vancouver that I would highly recommend
for an eating apple: Nicola, Salish, and Gina. But for making your own applesauce,
nothing beats a dozen fresh macs and a tsp of cinnamon
posted by morspin at 10:13 PM on October 25, 2024
In my garden, I have Egremont Russet (dessert), Belle de Boskoop (cooking), Monty's Surprise (all purpose), Yarlington Mill (cider) and Kingston Black (cider). And a big crabapple of some kind. The crabapple is mature from a previous owner, the others I planted over the last couple of years. A sun-warm, tree-ripe Egremont Russet is SO GOOD folks, spicy and nutty and aromatic and with a very different texture - no juice drips when you bite off a chunk but somehow tons of juice when you chomp down.
A few kilometers from my house, there's a park with a big wild area and walking tracks. Along the walking tracks are self-sown apple trees from a hundred years of walkers chucking their apple cores away. All kinds of colours, textures, flavours, some good, some frankly nasty. Last year I started scrumping the fruit for cider. And I found one tree that has apples that look as though you asked an AI to generate an image of a red apple for a kid's book, just perfectly glossy red skin and absolutely white flesh - and it was DELICIOUS. This year I'm going to make sure geolocate it and then get some cuttings.
posted by i_am_joe's_spleen at 11:29 PM on October 25, 2024 [5 favorites]
A few kilometers from my house, there's a park with a big wild area and walking tracks. Along the walking tracks are self-sown apple trees from a hundred years of walkers chucking their apple cores away. All kinds of colours, textures, flavours, some good, some frankly nasty. Last year I started scrumping the fruit for cider. And I found one tree that has apples that look as though you asked an AI to generate an image of a red apple for a kid's book, just perfectly glossy red skin and absolutely white flesh - and it was DELICIOUS. This year I'm going to make sure geolocate it and then get some cuttings.
posted by i_am_joe's_spleen at 11:29 PM on October 25, 2024 [5 favorites]
All of which is to say: there are danged good apples out there, and there always have been. The food distribution system is just shit at getting them to you, because of reasons.
posted by i_am_joe's_spleen at 11:40 PM on October 25, 2024 [2 favorites]
posted by i_am_joe's_spleen at 11:40 PM on October 25, 2024 [2 favorites]
Stayman winesaps are my jam. They are delicious fresh and they cook amazingly in tarte tatine. I do like a tart, very crunchy apple and basically I eat apples from Mid-October to the end of November and then not again until next year. On my second half bushel right now. (I am a household of one. When there are fresh winesaps that have not gone mealy from age as they do after about two months off the tree, I eat ALL of them. When there are not fresh winesaps, I'm kinda meh about apples.)
posted by which_chick at 6:14 AM on October 26, 2024
posted by which_chick at 6:14 AM on October 26, 2024
> Once, years ago, I walked an orchard and tasted an apple that was like a dream. I asked, what is this amazing apple? And to my extraordinary surprise, the answer was... Red Delicious.
60 years ago I was a child living in northern Indiana, and I remember going to orchards around Niles, MI and coming home with bushels of apples, mostly Red Delicious, and they were! Very red, and also very delicious. And quite a bit smaller than the ones I see at the store these last 30 or 40 years.
Something similar has happened to chicken. "Tastes like chicken" used to be a joke about eating frogs and snakes, but chicken no longer has any taste. Unless you buy the free-range stuff. And meanwhile the size of the breast muscles has ballooned probably 400%. Probably the $/# in constant $ is cheaper now than it was, and you can tell by the (lack of) taste.
posted by Aardvark Cheeselog at 8:32 AM on October 26, 2024
60 years ago I was a child living in northern Indiana, and I remember going to orchards around Niles, MI and coming home with bushels of apples, mostly Red Delicious, and they were! Very red, and also very delicious. And quite a bit smaller than the ones I see at the store these last 30 or 40 years.
Something similar has happened to chicken. "Tastes like chicken" used to be a joke about eating frogs and snakes, but chicken no longer has any taste. Unless you buy the free-range stuff. And meanwhile the size of the breast muscles has ballooned probably 400%. Probably the $/# in constant $ is cheaper now than it was, and you can tell by the (lack of) taste.
posted by Aardvark Cheeselog at 8:32 AM on October 26, 2024
Granny Smith is another apple that has declined badly from the form it had before modern grocery distribution. Thick, bitter skins and flavorless flesh, most of the time.
posted by Aardvark Cheeselog at 8:36 AM on October 26, 2024 [2 favorites]
posted by Aardvark Cheeselog at 8:36 AM on October 26, 2024 [2 favorites]
It’s pretty perplexing, given the famous clonal reproduction and putative skilled storage, that varieties get worse so fast.
posted by clew at 11:10 AM on October 26, 2024
posted by clew at 11:10 AM on October 26, 2024
Appels are useful for cooking and juicing, but I'd always find a softer local pear if I want flavor. I've therefore never looked too closely at apples myself, but..
Around a decade ago an older Russia friend disagreed with this article. As others said here, he argued apples were selected for long distance transport, but before transport more tasty and interesting varieties existed. It's plausible his comments are outdated. Also, him living in the fuit desert of the UK would not prompt reevaluation.
According to my wife, you should only ever buy bio/organic apples, because too many different pesticides get used on apples.
posted by jeffburdges at 4:11 AM on October 27, 2024 [1 favorite]
Around a decade ago an older Russia friend disagreed with this article. As others said here, he argued apples were selected for long distance transport, but before transport more tasty and interesting varieties existed. It's plausible his comments are outdated. Also, him living in the fuit desert of the UK would not prompt reevaluation.
According to my wife, you should only ever buy bio/organic apples, because too many different pesticides get used on apples.
posted by jeffburdges at 4:11 AM on October 27, 2024 [1 favorite]
OK, where's the love for Lord Lambournes and why has AppleRankings not heard of them?
posted by polytope subirb enby-of-piano-dice at 5:38 AM on October 27, 2024
posted by polytope subirb enby-of-piano-dice at 5:38 AM on October 27, 2024
Around nice fruits, eggfruits are incredible. They have a nice sweetness level, but with the consistency of custard or even a cupcake.
Also pesticides should be massively restricted: Blossoms without bees in China.
posted by jeffburdges at 6:29 AM on October 27, 2024
Also pesticides should be massively restricted: Blossoms without bees in China.
posted by jeffburdges at 6:29 AM on October 27, 2024
SweeTango, without a doubt. They've just come into our stores within the last few weeks and my spouse and I are eating at least one a day.
They are excellent when they're fresh. But they are easily bruised by a gentle breeze and don't seem to last very long on the shelf, and not often available here anyway.
The first year they were on the market there was an incredible cider that used SweeTango. We haven't seen it since then. :(
posted by Foosnark at 3:50 PM on October 27, 2024
They are excellent when they're fresh. But they are easily bruised by a gentle breeze and don't seem to last very long on the shelf, and not often available here anyway.
The first year they were on the market there was an incredible cider that used SweeTango. We haven't seen it since then. :(
posted by Foosnark at 3:50 PM on October 27, 2024
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He's less keen on the Red Delicious. "Nowadays, you can find this thick-skinned, flavorless, mealy imposter unwashed in a dirty wicker basket on the floor of a convenience store."
posted by Stark at 3:18 AM on October 25, 2024