Thread: Apples Board: Oblivion / Ship of Fools.


To visit this thread, use this URL:
http://forum.ship-of-fools.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=70;t=026236

---

Posted by Ariel (# 58) on :
 
Someone nearby cut down their apple tree last week. It used to produce a lot of windfalls on the pavement each year (which is probably why): small dark red apples which, when you bit into them, had a real, delicious old-fashioned apple flavour, and the colour of the skins had leached into the flesh so that they were distinctly pink inside.

I never did find out what they were (and will miss the windfalls) but it set me thinking about what a variety of apples we get these days, so here's a thread for you to enthuse about your favourite kind.

There aren't that many native British ones in the shops these days as a lot of imports seem to have become quite popular. Understandably: there's nothing like a large, crisp, beautiful Fuji or a juicy Jonagold. But you can still get russets, Worcester Pearmains and a few other kinds.

So: what's your favourite sort? Are you a fan of crunchy green Granny Smiths, or the yellow Golden Delicious, or do you like a nice Pink Lady? Got your own apple tree? Tell us about it here.
 

---

Posted by Jante (# 9163) on :
 
We have our own apple tree- which this year has produced a wonderful crop. not sure what sort it is- but the skins are yellow and red and the red leeches into the flesh giving it a definite pink hue. they are sweet and great for both eating and cooking with. this year I've made 17 jars of chutney
 

---

Posted by balaam (# 4543) on :
 

quote:

---

Originally posted by Ariel:
So: what's your favourite sort? Are you a fan of crunchy green Granny Smiths, or the yellow Golden Delicious, or do you like a nice Pink Lady? Got your own apple tree? Tell us about it here.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by balaam:
I may be caught with my mouth around the juicy bits of a Pink Lady (stop sniggering at the back) in Summer months.

---

They had a whole lot of loose Pink Ladies in the supermarket this morning.

I bought an Egremont Russet and a Jonagold for the pleasure of it. I want to try a Delbarestivale some time, having read a description that goes: "The flavour is quite perfumed, some say with a hint of anise and fennel, others of strawberry and pear." Apple flavour would be nice, but I'm curious.

There is also one apple whose name I can't remember, which apparently tastes like a pineapple if you keep it long enough.
 

---

Posted by tessaB (# 8533) on :
 
It depends how you want to eat it. Nothing beats a crisp, tart Granny Smith with a piece of mature cheddar cheese.
On it's own, Jazz or Pink Lady, for cooking it has to be a Bramley.
 

---

Posted by BessHiggs (# 15176) on :
 
When I was a child, a dear friend of the family was a rather larger apple grower in northern New York. He grew Macs mostly, but had a passion for tinkering with his tree stock and developed a unique apple all his own. The flesh was a deep golden color and had a taste unlike any apples I'd eaten before, or ever eaten since.

Sadly, when he died, his family sold off all his orchard land which was promptly cleared and re-sold as house lots
 

---

Posted by Carex (# 9643) on :
 
We just moved from our hectare in the country where we had apple trees. We started with at least 5, and a couple other places in the middle of the lawn where the old rootstock was still trying to sprout. No idea what type they were - at least one tree had a pink flesh, but nobody was able to identify them, probably because they were actually from rootstock rather than grafted varieties.

Then I was introduced to the concept of grafting, and had access to ~250 varieties from the local Home Orchard Society. We ended up with ~30 varieties on each of the 4 main trees, while the 5th (smaller) one got the types that were more prone to disease, etc. Unfortunately, when I got carried away with grafting I hadn't yet learned that the best place for a graft was not on the end of a branch, and we had some odd-shaped trees when we pruned them to keep some of the grafted wood.

We had all sorts - Russian, Japanese, European, American, crab apples, etc. We had to generate a database to keep track of where each graft was on each tree, when the apples were ripe, how long to store them, etc.

But in the end we really didn't eat a lot of apples, and over the years we took out a couple of trees and pruned back grafts that didn't seem to produce well, or varieties that we didn't like.

Our favorites were Priscilla, Liberty, and Discovery. Some of the others might have good flavor, but if they didn't produce well, or were prone to diseases, we didn't bother to keep them.

Now we're free of all the work involved: we canned them, made apple sauce, and dried them initially, but found we really didn't eat that much of what we were putting up. In the end I gave away what I could to folks who fed them to their horses.
 

---

Posted by Firenze (# 619) on :
 
James Grieve is a Scottish variety which is reasonably extant - in that you can buy saplings of it in the garden centre, even if you don't see the fruit in the supermarket. It is a lateish ripener, golden with streaks of pink.

After our big cherry blew down, we got a couple of tiny saplings from a chap up in Perthshire who cultivates old varieties - a Hawthornden and a Lemon Queen (though I would have liked a Bloody Ploughman). The Hawthornden produced half a dozen apples this year - quite large and quite green. I made them into a tart, and sauce for pork. The flavour can best be described as very, well, appley.

[ 03. November 2013, 16:53: Message edited by: Firenze ]
 

---

Posted by Curiosity killed ... (# 11770) on :
 
I love apples and grew up with a variety of trees, partly grown to have a chance to conserve the rarer breeds, partly to give a long season of apples to eat and keep. I have eaten Discovery, Worcester Pearmain, Beauty of Bath, Blenheim Orange, one of the russets and lots of other varieties I can't remember now from the tree. I will look out for the traditional varieties, particularly the russet apples at this time of year.
 

---

Posted by Roseofsharon (# 9657) on :
 
Charles Ross
We used to grow a Charles Ross, and the fruit is delicious - very similar to a cox (from which it was bred), but larger. I found Charles Ross apples for sale on a 'local' produce stall in a nearby town recently. What a treat!
 

---

Posted by Roseofsharon (# 9657) on :
 

quote:

---

Originally posted by Ariel:
Someone nearby cut down their apple tree last week. It used to produce a lot of windfalls on the pavement each year (which is probably why): small dark red apples which, when you bit into them, had a real, delicious old-fashioned apple flavour, and the colour of the skins had leached into the flesh so that they were distinctly pink inside.

---

Are you sure that wasn't a crab apple?
Laura is very like the apple you described - another one we used to have, until the honey fungus killed it off. They were quite big fruit for a crab, and I found them perfectly edible raw, although I mostly used them to make a gorgeous pink apple jelly
 

---

Posted by L'organist (# 17338) on :
 
Early Worcester is good, and proper old-fashioned Cox's Orange Pippin - not the huge, over-sweet nasty examples from the supermarket but the type of 40+ years ago: nice and crisp, not too hard and just the right size to fit into the hand of a small child.

Its not just apples that we're losing: anyone having trouble finding greengages?
 

---

Posted by Diomedes (# 13482) on :
 
My parents were apple growers and our orchard was planted with all the old varieties, Beauty of Bath was my favourite, the apples were the earliest to ripen and the tree was perfect for climbing. We grew Newtons and Bramleys for Covent Garden Market and they were very popular.

We even had apple jokes in our house!
Why did James Grieve?
Because he saw Charles Ross with Annie Elizabeth.
 

---

Posted by Stercus Tauri (# 16668) on :
 
I used to think that one of life's basic necessities was Bramley cooking apples for making pies. I may be wrong, but nobody in North America except for British exiles seems to have heard of them, and so far as I know, there isn't any local equivalent. The Northern Spy is very good - it's a sharp eating apple and good for pies too, though still not like the Bramley. We are in good apple growing country here and are spoilt for choice. So are the deer, who feed well off our old crab apple tree. When they run out of windfalls they'll jump to pick the lower branches - fun to watch.
 

---

Posted by Kyzyl (# 374) on :
 
Honeycrisp and Sweet Tango, both created by the University of Minnesota and neither of which taste worth a damn when grown outside of this area.
 

---

Posted by Gee D (# 13815) on :
 
It's strange for us to read the praise for Bramleys. They're not a variety we've ever seen at the greengrocer here, but Elizabeth David once wrote an article which a sub-editor entitled Big Bad Bramleys. That caused a furore, as you can imagine.

Golden Delicious are dreadful, and ordinary Delicious no better. Our favourites are Pink Lady and Fuji, with Granny Smiths for cooking.
 

---

Posted by Emma Louise (# 3571) on :
 
I was surprised our Australian family hadn't had Bramleys. I think they used Granny Smiths to cook with. Sadly not the same!
 

---

Posted by Kelly Alves (# 2522) on :
 
Maybe this is a good place to ask this- I have four or five Fuji apples that are good now, but just about to turn. I can either gobble them down or make applesauce. Do Fujis make good applesauce?
 

---

Posted by Kyzyl (# 374) on :
 

quote:

---

Originally posted by Kelly Alves:
Maybe this is a good place to ask this- I have four or five Fuji apples that are good now, but just about to turn. I can either gobble them down or make applesauce. Do Fujis make good applesauce?

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Gee D:
I can't remember exactly what Ms David said about Bramleys, but it was along the lines that they collapsed and turned mushy if they were baked whole; if sliced into a pie, they were watery.

Easy baked apples - halve Granny Smiths, carefully cut out the core into a hollow. Fill with dark brown sugar, then a dob of butter. Scatter some lemon zest over the top if you like, place in a dish and pour cream around them. Bake in a moderate oven until cooked. Serve with statins. Works well with pears also.

---

Statins? I believe you need a doctor's prescription for those!

 

---

Posted by Moo (# 107) on :
 
I am enjoying Stayman apples for the first time since last spring.

When I lived in New Hampshire I ate Cortlands

I think local apples are almost always best.

Moo
 

---

Posted by Emma Louise (# 3571) on :
 
Not at all Gee!

We have Granny Smiths here but real Bramleys are much better for baked apples. Larger, slightly less sweet and have a lovely fluffy texture.

We have both - so there's a choice but I don't know anyone who wouldn't use a Bramley for baking. A bit more expensive, but worth it
 

---

Posted by Emma Louise (# 3571) on :
 
I've never put just sugar in a baked apple. We usually stuff with raisins or similar interspersed with sugar. Sometimes golden syrup and butter on top to create a syrup.
 

---

Posted by Penny S (# 14768) on :
 
I went for a walk down to the village orchard today to check out the crop - plenty of windfalls, and some remaining in the trees, but all too high for my long arm picker. They are relatives of Bramleys, apparently, but not so knobbly, and with a red blush to them. There is one eater, but they don't look ready yet. Also too high. It's interesting how little they were damaged by the gales last week.

We had a house in Dover with its own little orchard in the back garden. Between a dozen and twenty trees, maybe, all different varieties which we couldn't identify. My Grandad came over to prune them, as they'd got a bit out of hand (he had been a professional gardener), and we got good crops. Nice small eaters that you could get your mouth round. After we left, they got out of hand again, and were at one time visible over the roof (and since the house was up a slope fromthe road, and the orchard up slope from the house, this was an achievement). The current occupants have had a blitz, but there are some left.
One year the apples were stored on a mezzanine floor in the garage - not checked often enough, the car got anointed with sticky juice from the ones which rotted.
 

---

Posted by Schroedinger's cat (# 64) on :
 
I tend to like my apples green, much to my wifes frustration. Golden Delicious and Granny Smiths are what I normally eat as apples on their own. Golden Delicious I often find insipid, so Grannys are good.

For cooking, it tends to be whatever comes from next doors tree, or friends tress, or cheap in the shops.
 

---

Posted by Signaller (# 17495) on :
 
Our old Bramley fell over more than twenty years ago, but still flourishes, though horizontal. This year the late warmth has encouraged the fruit to stay on the tree into November, and even turn red, at which point they become edible if you favour a fairly sharp taste.
 

---

Posted by mark_in_manchester (# 15978) on :
 
If it's not too tangential, how do folks store them? I have two sets of friends both with big trees, and so free access to huge numbers of apples. I've only a small freezer, so I've tried wrapping them in paper in previous years, but they shrivelled by Christmas. Now I'm unemployed, with maybe the time and inclination to be inventive.

cheers
Mark
 

---

Posted by jedijudy (# 333) on :
 
Sadly, we don't really grow apples here, but I have wonderful memories of enjoying different varieties while I was growing up.

We had a Northern Spy in our backyard which made to-die-for pies. Grandpa had a Yellow Transparent, and we grandkids loved to eat the sweet things. They were the first to get ripe, I believe.

There were a lot of old apple trees growing in the woods near my childhood home. They were on the old homesteads which had gone back to the wild, but left lovely heirloom fruit trees, blackberry bushes and flowers.
 

---

Posted by Aravis (# 13824) on :
 
Discovery is my absolute favourite, but most supermarkets don't sell them as they are exceptionally early and don't have a long shelf life. They usually appear mid August, have a strong scent, very white flesh with a tinge of pink, and a natural waxy feel to the skin.
We have a Queen Cox in the garden, self-fertilising and a very heavy cropper. It produced around 100 sound apples this year and about another 20 that I cut the good bits out of, cooked and froze for pies.
The Welsh Folk Museum near Cardiff has an annual apple festival, with probably about 100 varieties on display, samples to taste and buy, and quizzes to complete. Missed it this year unfortunately.
Most supermarkets don't sell many varieties, but if you look closely on the top apple shelf in Sainsbury's, there are usually bags labelled "British dessert apples" throughout September and October which include fairly obscure varieties in season.
 

---

Posted by Niminypiminy (# 15489) on :
 

quote:

---

Originally posted by Ariel:

There is also one apple whose name I can't remember, which apparently tastes like a pineapple if you keep it long enough.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Penny S:
They are relatives of Bramleys, apparently, but not so knobbly, and with a red blush to them.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Penny S:
I notice people mentioning applesauce, and I am wondering if this is actually the same as apple sauce as served with pork, or something else? (And my family recipe for the latter seems different from other people's anyway, involving butter and onions as well as sugar, salt and pepper.)

---

Applesauce to me means apples cooked down to a soft pulpy stage. Could be chunky or pureed. With or without the addition of sugar and spices - that really depends on the variety and ripeness of the apples used. However, Penny, your family recipe sounds intriguing!
 

---

Posted by Penny S (# 14768) on :
 
OK. Melt a lump of salted butter (about an ounce - this is a throw in what seems right type of recipe, and is open to experiment and using what you happen to have about) and add half a large onion, chopped. The chunks should be about a centimetre square. Sweat the onion until translucent, but do not brown. Meanwhile, chop an average sized eating apple into centimetre cubish bits. If feeling posh, peel it first. I quite like it with the peel showing. If feeding more people (this doesn't make a vast amount, suitable for two), and using more apple, you could mix the eater with some of a peeled cooker which would break down more. The target texture should have chunks but in a mushy glossy matrix. Add to the onions and cook gently until the apple is cooked through, with a spoonful of sugar to taste (and give it the gloss). Stir in a grinding of black pepper to taste. Press gently with a masher or similar to slightly break up the apple. Serve hot with roast pork, or grilled pork chops, about a tablespoonful to a serving.
I once investigated a neighbour who had produced the distinctive aroma of this dish to find out what they had been cooking - the neighbour, a short let tenant, was very dismissive. "I don't know," he said shortly, "my wife is Hungarian." Implied, go away and leave us alone! So I did. And still do not know which Magyar dish uses apples and onions.

[ 04. November 2013, 19:33: Message edited by: Penny S ]
 

---

Posted by Bob Two-Owls (# 9680) on :
 
Apples are all horrible. They are redeemed from the bucket labelled "sprouts and other poisons" by the fact that cider is wonderful.
 

---

Posted by Kelly Alves (# 2522) on :
 
There's one on every thread.
 

---

Posted by Moo (# 107) on :
 
Another very good local apple is the Ginger Gold. They ripen in August, and they don't store well.

However, they are very good.

Moo
 

---

Posted by Sober Preacher's Kid (# 12699) on :
 
I'm torn between a good Honeycrisp and a good Empire. Galas are decent.
 

---

Posted by Dogwalker (# 14135) on :
 
I stopped on the way home and bought some Royal Galas and some Red Rome. (Royal Galas are originally from NZ; mine were grown in Massachusetts.)

The Galas are good, nice and firm, but with overtones of pear to me. I'm going to have a Gome after dinner.
 

---

Posted by Gee D (# 13815) on :
 
Penny S an apple sauce with horseradish is the traditional Viennese accompaniment to tafelspitz (boiled beef). I'm thinking your caramelised onion and apple sauce could also go well with that, or with roast chicken.
 

---

Posted by ArachnidinElmet (# 17346) on :
 
Having a fridge and freezer full of apple sauce left from an Apple Day (21st October) event I can tell you apple sauce is good with everything.

Has anyone else come across the phenomenon that if you give a child a toffee/chocolate apple they'll eat the outside and throw away the apple, but give them an apple and some toffee/chocolate and they'll eat both?
 

---

Posted by lilBuddha (# 14333) on :
 
It is not a phenomenon, it is normal behaviour.
 

---

Posted by Penny S (# 14768) on :
 

quote:

---

Originally posted by Gee D:
Penny S an apple sauce with horseradish is the traditional Viennese accompaniment to tafelspitz (boiled beef). I'm thinking your caramelised onion and apple sauce could also go well with that, or with roast chicken.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Chorister:
I have a soft spot for Russet apples, they are not often popular because they look brown, but the taste is gorgeous.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by ArachnidinElmet:
Having a fridge and freezer full of apple sauce left from an Apple Day (21st October) event I can tell you apple sauce is good with everything.

Has anyone else come across the phenomenon that if you give a child a toffee/chocolate apple they'll eat the outside and throw away the apple, but give them an apple and some toffee/chocolate and they'll eat both?

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by ArachnidinElmet:
Has anyone else come across the phenomenon that if you give a child a toffee/chocolate apple they'll eat the outside and throw away the apple, but give them an apple and some toffee/chocolate and they'll eat both?

---

• Grimes contains 19% sugar that ferments to a 9% alcohol, and was popular for the making of hard cider in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia.

quote:

---

Originally posted by jedijudy:
Ariel, this site gives a possible answer to your question, which is one I've often wondered about, too.

---

Thank you for this fascinating link. I'd love to try some of these - most of them are ones I haven't heard of.
 

---

Posted by Palimpsest (# 16772) on :
 
The best book I've found for apple descriptions is a British book; The New Book of Apples by Morgan and Richards. It has an appendix with descriptions of a couple thousand apple varieties; what they're good for, parentage, coloring. I lent my old edition to an apple farmer and eventually had to give it to them.

Other notes. One reason Honeycrisp apples are expensive is that there's a royalty on them which goes to the Minneapolis Station that developed them. You can ignore the claims that its a cross of Golden delicious, genetic analysis made later shows it to be a mutation.

Part of my fondness for apples is that they don't breed true. Every new plant grown from seed is different than its parents. This means that every old apple we have has been maintained by humans cloning it over the centuries to keep the variety alive.
 

---

Posted by Firenze (# 619) on :
 
If you go to this site , go to the Search function, select 'Apple' and 'all a-z' you get a listing, each one of which goes to a description, with photos.
 

---

Posted by Ariel (# 58) on :
 
Good heavens, there are literally hundreds. And all we see in the shops are the same few - maybe 10 different kinds. I'm going to start looking more closely at fruit stalls at farmers' markets and seeing what they've got.

(Could be the next big thing since trainspotting...)
 

---

Posted by Galloping Granny (# 13814) on :
 
I found a delectable new variety in the supermarket last month, called Ambrosia – has anyone else eaten it? Crisp and sweet as an apple should be.

And by way of a tangent –
Staying with my daughter in British Columbia one August I had the job of stewing apples from a nearby wild apple tree before the bears stripped them as they ate everything they could find before hibernating. There's a day in the fall when people are invited to help themselves to remaining apples from local trees, and apple presses are available for any who want to make juice/cider.

GG
 

---

Posted by L'organist (# 17338) on :
 
There's a man on the south coast who has one tree on which he has grafted 250 varieties.
 

---

Posted by Ariel (# 58) on :
 
Yes, I saw a picture of that in the paper a few weeks ago. I don't know how he keeps track of everything.
 

---

Posted by The Weeder (# 11321) on :
 
We have Bramleys, with which our neighbour makes apple pies and Russetts which seem to me too hard for human consumption. Fortunately, the wild boar love them and clear them away very quickly. It is impossible to keep the boar out of the garden, but the apples mean they do not create chaos.
 

---

Posted by LutheranChik (# 9826) on :
 
[Tangent alert] According to our Department of Natural Resources, we're being invaded by scores of renegade game-farm wild boars and their progeny, destroying local ecosystems and spreading disease...every so often the local paper will carry the photo of a hunter who, while stalking something else, bagged one of these exotics. (The DNR encourages hunters to kill them on sight.)

Sometimes our "apple-ing" takes us into some fairly remote rural places. So far, the only wildlife I've encountered sharing the bounty have been songbirds, deer and a raccoon. Until now I never thought of the possibility of encountering a wild boar...
 

---

Posted by Galloping Granny (# 13814) on :
 

quote:

---

Originally posted by Galloping Granny:
I found a delectable new variety in the supermarket last month, called Ambrosia – has anyone else eaten it? Crisp and sweet as an apple should be.
GG

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by LutheranChik:
I think part of the appeal of heirlooms lies in some of their names...who wouldn't want to try Sops of Wine, or Blue Sheepnose? (Although...my reaction to the former was "meh.")

Anyone ever try Spitzenburgs? They were, it is said, one of Thomas Jefferson's favorite apples and part of his orchard at Monticello. My impression, after tasting one at Northport, was that its looks were more impressive than its flavor...but that's just me.

---

© Ship of Fools 2016


UBB.classic^TM 6.5.0