There are a lot of apples out there. Seriously, have you noticed how big the apple section is in the produce aisle? I don’t ever recall there being this many available when I was growing up. Back then, we only had two – red or green. There were also only two name brands: the Delicious apples (red or golden), or the never-seen-but-definitely-heard-of so you know they had to exist SOMEwhere, the Granny Smith, which was always green. In my neighborhood we only ever saw the Delicious brand of apples, and my preferred choice was Golden, mainly because the Red ones could be super hard. I come from a long line of crappy dental DNA so even though I liked Red, the softer Golden was better for me.
Over the years more and more apples have shown up in the market, and at some point I found and tried Granny Smith as well as Gala. Granny Smith has become my go-to for baking, but for munching I really liked Gala. Now, however, there are so many choices that it’s hard to pick one. Entering the produce section and coming face-to-face with the Never-Ending Apple Bin, I just stand there with my mouth hanging open, paralyzed with indecision. Unable to decide, I usually give up and get some bananas instead. But, sometimes, I really want a crisp fruit so that’s when I go and get some Bartlett Pears. That’s another fruit with several choices that hadn’t previously existed, but my taste buds for pears are pretty set in stone, so Bartlett is safe. Apples, on the other hand….well, I’d already found that I liked Gala way more than Golden Delicious, so … no apple is safe.
When I was in the store recently, staring down at those endless red, yellow and green orbs, I finally decided to throw caution to the wind and try ALL of them. Literally. I went and bought one of every single type they had, stuck them in the fridge to chill as I like them cold, and started preparing a proper taste test. Having done this before, I’ve got a pretty good handle on how to set this up. My stomach, on the other hand, can’t handle me eating 10+ apples in one sitting, so I figured I could space it out over several days.
I’ve found that time frame to be extremely optimistic. Days have turned into weeks, which are rapidly turning into months. Every time I’d go to the store I’d check the produce section for different apple varieties, and invariably I’d find more. I also frequent several grocery stores: some large chains as well as some smaller mom-and-pop shops, and while their stocks may overlap, there are differences. Also, a quick internet search for apple types brings up dozens of them, so this is becoming an on-going quest. Before it got completely out of hand, I set up a few basic rules.
I would take one apple for dessert immediately after having eaten dinner. I measured the height of each apple in inches, and made other observations. I’d then start munching, writing down notes as I went. Nothing else was eaten with the apple, and I had plain water handy if I needed to wash it down. There were only two real categories for comparison: appearance and taste.
Similar to my pizza reviews, I'll be posting my results individually. I’ve found that I definitely like the sweeter apples, but I’ve tried very hard to be objective with the tart ones, just to be fair. I’m also working on a simple visual aid, a handy-dandy, easy-to-understand chart, but it’s not finished yet. The problem is that I keep finding new apples to try, so the chart just keeps getting bigger. At some point I’m just going to have to figure out a solution to that visual aid issue, but in the meantime…an apple a day keeps the doctor away, right?
Over the years more and more apples have shown up in the market, and at some point I found and tried Granny Smith as well as Gala. Granny Smith has become my go-to for baking, but for munching I really liked Gala. Now, however, there are so many choices that it’s hard to pick one. Entering the produce section and coming face-to-face with the Never-Ending Apple Bin, I just stand there with my mouth hanging open, paralyzed with indecision. Unable to decide, I usually give up and get some bananas instead. But, sometimes, I really want a crisp fruit so that’s when I go and get some Bartlett Pears. That’s another fruit with several choices that hadn’t previously existed, but my taste buds for pears are pretty set in stone, so Bartlett is safe. Apples, on the other hand….well, I’d already found that I liked Gala way more than Golden Delicious, so … no apple is safe.
When I was in the store recently, staring down at those endless red, yellow and green orbs, I finally decided to throw caution to the wind and try ALL of them. Literally. I went and bought one of every single type they had, stuck them in the fridge to chill as I like them cold, and started preparing a proper taste test. Having done this before, I’ve got a pretty good handle on how to set this up. My stomach, on the other hand, can’t handle me eating 10+ apples in one sitting, so I figured I could space it out over several days.
I’ve found that time frame to be extremely optimistic. Days have turned into weeks, which are rapidly turning into months. Every time I’d go to the store I’d check the produce section for different apple varieties, and invariably I’d find more. I also frequent several grocery stores: some large chains as well as some smaller mom-and-pop shops, and while their stocks may overlap, there are differences. Also, a quick internet search for apple types brings up dozens of them, so this is becoming an on-going quest. Before it got completely out of hand, I set up a few basic rules.
I would take one apple for dessert immediately after having eaten dinner. I measured the height of each apple in inches, and made other observations. I’d then start munching, writing down notes as I went. Nothing else was eaten with the apple, and I had plain water handy if I needed to wash it down. There were only two real categories for comparison: appearance and taste.
Similar to my pizza reviews, I'll be posting my results individually. I’ve found that I definitely like the sweeter apples, but I’ve tried very hard to be objective with the tart ones, just to be fair. I’m also working on a simple visual aid, a handy-dandy, easy-to-understand chart, but it’s not finished yet. The problem is that I keep finding new apples to try, so the chart just keeps getting bigger. At some point I’m just going to have to figure out a solution to that visual aid issue, but in the meantime…an apple a day keeps the doctor away, right?