Recommended Uses for Selected Apple Varieties

Of the thousand-plus (yes, there really are that many!) named varieties of apples grown in North America, I have chosen to highlight a dozen of my favorite varieties. I hope you will try them and like them, too. The Washington Apple Commission has lots more apple facts.

You are looking at the most controversial apple grown in North America. Red Delicious has become a symbol (a distinctively shaped logo, you could say) of the American apple. It represents the industry that has made it a stereotype. It also says much about a people who drop more of them in their shopping carts than any other apple.

Red Delicious is a marketer's ideal: as intensely red as the apple in Snow White, instantly recognizable, tall and wasp-waisted, and gorgeous even after the insides have gone to mush. And big. Riding on those qualities, the variety has pushed regional favorites aside.

There is nothing imperialistic in this apple's genes, of course. It simply has been the lead player in our evolving notion of what an apple should be. The rise of Red Delicious has been called the victory of style over substance. Still, Big Red has its defenders, who point out that the original variety was a damned good apple. The skin is thick and bitter and has to be chewed vigorously. At its best the yellow flesh can be juicy, somewhat tart, and highly aromatic. This apple ranks close to the bottom when cooked.

Harvest is in September, but the apples are sold year-round, so shop with skepticism. Delicious retains its cheerful good looks long after the flavor has departed.

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Golden Delicious is not related to the red variety of that name, although both were christened by Stark Brothers. This is a very easy apple to like. The skin is thin; the flesh, firm and crisp and juicy. Flavor and aroma are unmistakable, without being particularly assertive. Even the shape is somehow agreeable: large, tall, and conical, Golden Delicious strikes some cooks as too timid for the kitchen, but it can be used for pies and sauce with little or no sugar. Its distinctive aroma carries over into cider.

Golden Delicious began as a chance seedling, perhaps of Grimes Golden, on a farmer's hillside near Bomont, West Virginia. In 1914 Stark bought the tree for five thousand dollars, and protected its investment with a tall cage, complete with burglar alarm.

Apples ripen from mid-September through late October. The skin color can be a clue to quality; look for fruits that are pale yellow, not the chartreuse of an apple picked prematurely or the darker yellow that signals overripeness. The skin is quick to shrivel if the apples are at room temperature, but Golden Delicious should keep well if refrigerated in the crisper or a plastic bag.

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Granny Smith introduced American supermarket shoppers to the green apple. For a culture that had become unfamiliar with apples of that color, it came as a surprise that green does not necessarily mean unripe. Tart, Granny tends to be, but not sour and starchy.

The story goes that the first Granny Smith sprouted from a pile of apples tossed out by a southeast Australian named Mrs. Smith, back in 1868. This variety has succeeded commercially where other greens have not, for a few reasons. It is large. It is mild-flavored and has a good balance of tart and sweet. It is nearly as resilient as a tennis ball and holds up well in shipping. And Granny Smith will tolerate a half year of cold storage.

Brands of Granny applesauce and Granny apple juice are widely marketed. The apple can be baked as well. But eaten fresh, Granny is not an apple people tend to take to their hearts and name as their lifelong favorite. It's two-dimensional, lacking the hard-to-name qualities that make a fruit memorable.

The apples are harvested in October. As you sort through the piles of green fruits, keep in mind that paler Grannys, with a warmish cast, tend to be sweetest.

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Jonathan has come a long way since its discovery in Ulster Count, New York, in the early 1800s. Within a hundred years it was the sixth best-selling apple in the United States, and it became Michigan's most popular variety. Jonathan's influence has been spread by a number of well-known crosses, most of them identifiable as family members because the names share the first four letters.

Jonathan can vary in flavor from mild to tart, depending on where it is grown. It has a spicy tang that some people also note in the apple's descendants. Beneath the thin, tough skin, the flesh is crisp, fine-textured, and juicy. It may be stained with red. This variety rates high for both eating fresh and cooking down into sauce, but it will not keep its shape when baked. Toss Jonathans into the hopper of a cider mill, and you'll retain something of their spicy character.

Jonathan ripens from mid-September through mid-October. The fruit does not keep particularly well.

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Known also as simply Rome, this variety has a history that goes back to a fortuitous oversight. In the 1820s a tree planted along the northern bank of the Ohio River happened to send up a shoot from below the graft--from the part of the tree that is not supposed to bear fruit. Orchardists lop these unwanted shoots as routinely as they get haircuts. But this branch survived to bear splendidly colored fruit, and people began taking slips from it. The regionally famous tree was named for Rome Township, Ohio.

Sometime before the Civil War the waters rose up and washed the tree downriver. But by then Rome was well established. It continued to be grown more widely than many better-tasting varieties because of its size, conventionally handsome looks, and long shelf life.

Rome is a thick-skinned fruit that makes good eating but finds better use as a baker and in cider. The flesh, once you bite through to it, is crisp, firm, greenish white, and mildly tart.

Harvest is from late September into November. Beware of Romes that have become mealy and flavorless from storage.

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Winesap is the distillation of a crisp fall day. The apple has character-too much character for some. Beneath its sturdy skin, the yellow flesh is firm, toothsome, and very juicy, with a powerful sweet-sour contrast and the characteristic winy flavor and aroma. Winesap serves well in the kitchen, and its flavor carries over into sauce, pie, and cider. Note that its famously invigorating personality may be missing in areas where local climate or soil conditions are not favorable.

Winesap is thought to have come from New Jersey. By 1817 it was recorded as an important cider apple in that state. Its popularity spread, and Winesap remained a major late-season apple until the mid-1900s, when controlled atmosphere storage made it possible to offer many varieties in its season. But Winesap continues to be widely grown, in spite of its relatively small size and competition from a milder offspring, Stayman.

Apples are ready for harvest between late September and early November and remain enjoyable for months. In blossom a row of Winesaps will glow pinker than most.

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Criterion was discovered as a chance seedling near Parker, Washington. The variety's genetic mix includes Red Delicious, Yellow Delicious, and Winter Banana. It was introduced in 1973.

The flesh is notably crisp, firm, and juicy. Criterion tastes mild and sweet, with a touch of tartness, and good aroma suffuses it all. This variety can be recommended for all kitchen uses, including drying.

Following the October harvest, the fruit will keep its quality for some months.

[Criterion was also found as a seedling on my grandparents Freda and Herman Tuttle's orchard near Quincy, Washington. --Cathy Anderson]

Gala is a strikingly attractive apple. The bright yellow skin is finely stippled with red, as if airbrushed, and the result is a near-neon intensity. From across a room you'd think you were looking at a peach. Gala was developed in New Zealand by J. H. Kidd, crossing Golden Delicious and his own Kidd's Orange Red. The work was done in the 1920s, but the apple wasn't named and introduced until the 1960s.

The pale, creamy yellow flesh is crisp and dense, with a mild, sweet flavor and good aroma. The fruit is not large, and especially small Galas are cleverly marketed here as lunchbox size. In taste tests Gala easily outscores McIntosh and is considered more sprightly than Golden Delicious. Tom Vorbeck of Applesource says that a typical first comment of people biting into one is "Best apple I ever had in my life." When cooked, Gala strikes some people as bland, but it can be dried with good results. Gala is also used in cider blends.

Fruits imported from New Zealand first appear in stores from August and on into October; your refrigerator will stretch the life of the apples another three or four months.

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The fortunes of Jonagold reveal much about national differences in apple appreciation. Although released in 1968 by New York State's Geneva Station, this cross of Jonathan and Golden Delicious has succeeded far better in Europe than at home. Large plantings have been made in Britain, France, Italy, Switzerland, and Belgium - Jonagold may become Europe's number one apple - as well as in Japan. But the home crowd resists it, preferring the familiar red, sweet, tame Red Delicious. It has been said that Americans eat apples with their eyes, and Jonagold is a case in point.

Nevertheless, this variety is the leading apple west of the Cascades in Washington State, and in British Columbia Jonagold challenges McIntosh as the number one variety.

With its aroma of Golden Delicious and the sprightliness of Jonathan, Jonagold is an excellent sweet-tart dessert apple. The texture of the creamy yellow flesh is noticeably crisp and juicy. In a poll of nineteen apple experts in nine countries, Jonagold scored as the overall favorite. The fruit makes fair sauce and a good pie.

Harvest varies from mid-September to late October. The apples keep well unless picked late in their two-week harvest period.

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Newtown Pippin has been called the classic American apple. It holds the honor as the oldest commercially grown native variety in the United States. And it has a place in our lore, as the apple of George Washington's eye. Grafts found their way to Monticello, where Thomas Jefferson was eager to have the best and latest varieties.

The variety sprang from a seed in Newtown, Long Island. The original tree died when too many scions were cut from it for grafting. A greener version is known as Albemarle Pippin, named for the Virginia county, and Virginians claim it is more flavorful than Newtown.

Before Granny Smith invaded North America, Newtown was the best-appreciated green dessert apple. It continues to be enjoyed for a complexity that Granny lacks. Uncut, the apple may exhale a tangerine scent. The pale yellow flesh is crisp and tender, sweet on the tongue, and balanced by enough tartness. Some people detect a clean, pinelike quality. One minor drawback is that slices brown rapidly. Newtown makes a thick sauce, excellent pies with body, and a particularly clear cider.

Apples are ready to be picked in October, when they have warmed to a pale greenish yellow. They continue to get sweeter and richer in flavor for the next five months.

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McIntosh is the best-selling apple in the northeastern United States and in Canada. Unlike Red Delicious, the number one North American variety, it isn't the subject of snide remarks by apple aficionados.

John McIntosh, a farmer in Dundela, Dundas County, Ontario, Canada, gave his name to a talented cross between Fameuse and Detroit Red. The variety was introduced in 1870 and went on to much fame and much crossbreeding. McIntosh has lent its good genes to several well-known varieties, including Cortland, Empire, Macoun, and Spartan.

The original tree was badly scorched when a fire burned down the McIntosh farmhouse in 1894. But the old Mac limped on, yielding its last crop in 1908. It fell over two years later, and a stone memorial now marks the site.

The apple, in case you haven't visited your supermarket's produce section lately, has white, tender, crisp flesh that's spice, highly aromatic, and full of juice. The characteristic flavor carries over into sauce, but in the slices lose their shape. Macs are the principal cider apple in the Northeast.

Harvest is in September. Beware of McIntosh as winter wears on; the apples turn mealy if stored too long.

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Gravenstein has wandered around much of the world on its way to America. It is thought to have originated in either Russia or Italy, before becoming established in Schleswig-Holstein, the neck of land that has been on both sides of the German-Danish border. So you may find the apple referred to as Russian, Italian, German, or Danish. Whatever its itinerary, the variety arrived in the United States in the late 1700s and continues to be grown commercially in California.

Gravenstein is thin-skinned and juicy, with sweetness and enough acid to make it interesting. It is an outstanding summer apple and an orchard antique deserving of its renewed interest. The Gravenstein personality carries through when cooking in pies and sauce and is noticeable in an all-Gravenstein cider.

The fruit is picked in late July and August. Be wary of Gravensteins still on the market in fall; their quality doesn't hold up in storage, and fruits may have become soft and mealy.

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Sources:

Table:

Anderson, Catherine. Prepared for speech on apples given at Highline Community College: Des Moines, Washington. 1993.

Additional apple information:

Yepsen, Roger B. Apples. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1994.