How do you like your apples? According to Ken Haddrell, operations manager for the Okanagan Plant Improvement Corporation, “Sweet.” Yes, it seems 95 % of the apple eating population prefer sweet to tart.

“Most consumers buy with their eyes,” Haddrell explains, “Texture is the most important thing they consider, it must be crisp and juicy.”

This past Sunday, the kids and I spent the morning at UBC’s Apple Festival, where we sampled more than 30 different varieties from Nicola, a new up and comer, to Belle de Boskoop, which originated in Holland in the late 1800’s.

Sampling so many varieties was a bit overwhelming to say the least, but out of the 127 that were on display, there were several that stood out.

My absolute favourite, hands down was SPA 493 - unfortunately this apple is not available for sale yet. It is still in the commercial development stages, but the neat thing about the festival is you get to try varieties before they hit the market.

My other two favourites were Ambrosia, and the Auroa Golden Gala. I’ve blogged about Ambrosia’s popularity in, “It’s Apple Season. Unfortunately there are only 250,000 of them produced here in B.C., so get them while you can because by February, if there are any left, they will be past their prime.

Another great apple, and clearly a crowd favourite, was the Auroa Golden Gala. It’s classified as a dessert apple, but it’s also good for cooking and salads. Apple producers like this one because it has a long shelf life, seven months and it’s flavour improves with storage.

The McIntosh is still one of the best selling apples next to the Galas. Recently while in the Okanagan, I ate a McIntosh right from the tree. Eating it, I could not believe how much better it tasted fresh. When I asked Haddrell about this, he explained that McIntoshes are picked in early September for storage, where they slowly mature. I apparently ate a “mature” apple, that was full of sugar and in it’s prime. This is the best way to enjoy a McIntosh.

Tomorrow’s blog will feature some of the apples recipes I picked up at the festival, Braised Chicken with Ambrosia Apples and Tunnel of Ambrosia Cake mmmmmm. Next week I will do Octoberfest recipes.

Cheers,

Julie

This entry was posted on Wednesday, October 17th, 2007 at 6:36 pm and is filed under Food, Road Trips. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.