Comment APPLEez-vous?



Is it me or are there a lot more apple choices in the produce section these days?  It's a little mind-boggling to think that this is just a miniscule representation of the 2500 some varieties of apples grown in just North America alone!

 

I thought it might be nice though to present a little Who’s Who guide based on the ones you find available most often in your grocery store. 

Braeburn
Background:  originated in New Zealand in 1952, named after Braeburn Orchard where it was first grown commercially
Parentage:  believed to have been developed from a chance crossing between a Lady Hamilton and a Granny Smith apple
Color:  yellow undertone with a streaky red overtone
Taste:  uniquely sweet and tart flavor (a definite reflection of its parentage)
Culinary use:  a good multipurpose apple that’s great for cooking, tend to hold their shape and don’t release a lot of liquid (so especially good for tarting)

Cripps Pink
my personal favorite
Background:  originally bred in Western Australia by John Cripps from whom they get their name, also known as the Pink Lady
Parentage:  cross between Golden Delicious and Lady Williams
Color:  blushed pink with hints of red
Taste:   very fragrantly sweet and crispy
Culinary use:  best for enjoying raw, great for salads

Crispin
Background:  hails originally from Japan, known as a Mutsu, but renamed to Crispin in the 1960s
Parentage:  cross between a Golden Delicious and a Japanese Indo apple
Color:  bright yellow green
Taste:  sweet, refreshing, super crispy
Culinary use:  good for eating, baking, freezing, roasting or cooking, also great for salad and pies, but most importantly, makes a darned tasty hard cider

Fuji
Background:  developed in Japan in the 1930s, began to be grown stateside in the 1980s
Parentage:  cross between Red Delicious and a Virginia Ralls Janet
Color:  bi-colored red and yellow
Taste:  sweet and firm, rounded
Culinary use:  great for plain eating and in salads, but also makes a great applesauce

Gala
Background:  originated in New Zealand, brought to the US in the 1970s and now one of the most popular apples in America
Parentage:  cross between a Golden Delicious and a Kidd’s Orange Red
Color:  vary in color from creamy orange to red and/or yellow striped
Taste:  crisp, juicy, very sweet but mild
Culinary use:  best raw for snacking and as a salad topping

Golden Delicious
Background:  shares only its name with Red Delicious (not just a lighter version), used as a cultivar (i.e., the parent apple of many varietals)
Parentage:  was a chance seedling cross between a Grimes Golden and a Golden Reinette
Color:  light yellow with an occasional green blush
Taste:  sweet and mild with a juicy crispness
Culinary use:  good for baking, freezing, saucing or eating raw, makes good applesauce or apple butter

Granny Smith
Background:  got its name when it was chance discovered in 1868 by “Granny” Anne Smith of Rude, New South Wales
Parentage:   believed to be a possible descent of a French crabapple
Color:  probably the most widely recognized apple with green skin and occasionally a red blush
Taste:  tart tart tart and super crispy
Culinary use:  all-purpose apple great for cooking, baking, stewing or eating raw slathered with creamy peanut butter (mmmmm)

Honeycrisp
Background:  developed at the University of Minnesota’s Horticultural Research Center
Parentage:  cross between a Macoun and a Honeygold
Color:  similar in appearance to a Braeburn only with more green undertones
Taste:  light honey sweet flavor, but with a crunchy crispy tartness
Culinary use:  good for snacks and salads, also makes a good applesauce

Jonagold
Background:  developed at the New York State Agricultural Experiment Station in Geneva
Parentage:  cross between a Golden Delicious and a Jonathan apple
Color:  can be either golden green or greenish gold and brindled red
Taste:  tart and sweet, very juicy
Culinary use:  good for raw snacking and salads, makes a good sauce, good for baking and freezing too, make a great fried apple (just add butter and cinnamon)

McIntosh
Background:  named after John McIntosh who discovered the sapling in 1811, started selling the fruit in 1835, it was introduced into commercial production in the 1870s and was a widely common used apple in the Northeast
Parentage:  it’s a cultivar (so a parent itself)
Color:  bi-colored red and green
Taste:  juicy, tangy, and tart with tender white flesh
Culinary use:  best for snacking, makes naturally pink tinted applesauce, delicious as a cider, great in pies and tarts but FYI, it cooks down really easy so make sure to cut slices thick or add a thickener otherwise it becomes mush
FYI:  apparently Jef Raskin of Apple, Inc. named the Macintosh line of PCs after this apple

Northern Spy
Background:  discovered around 1800 in East Bloomfield, NY
Parentage:  believed to be descended from a Wagener apple
Color:  green base color with “stripings” of red
Taste:  juicy and crunchy, mildly sweet but with a slightly acid edge, is high vitamin C
Culinary use:  reputed to be one of the best apples for desserts and pie as well as juices and ciders, but kind of lives up to its name in that they are very hard to find

Red Delicious
Background:  originated in Peru, Iowa where it was discovered in 1870s as a chance seedling, one of best knows types recognizable by its elongated in shape with a “footed” bottom (like a plastic soda bottle)
Parentage:  just kind of found on its own
Taste:  sweet, crisp, and juicy but with a slightly bitter thick skin
Color:  various shades of red
Culinary use:  best eaten fresh and raw, especially good for salads