Maybe you like them crunchy. Sweet. Tart. Juicy. Maybe you like them in a pie. In a cobbler. In a crisp. Maybe a cookie. Maybe you prefer yours sauced. Or jammed. Jelly anyone? No matter how you like your apple, there are thousands of varieties to please just about anybody.
Which apple varieties are we trying today?
Granny Smith
Envy
Red Delicious
Fuji
Pink Lady
Honey Crisp
Cosmic Crisp
Gala
Who is on this fresh and juicy quest?
Kris, likes the struggle.
Nate, breathing heavy.
Matt, what have you done with his wife?!
Amy, keeping the doctor away.
And of course, our subscribers! Thanks to our small, yet coveted group. We appreciate the support. You too can join us on this food journey. All you need to do is… SUBSCRIBE!
The History of Apples
The origins of the apple. Where to start? Some of you may say, that’s easy! The Old Testament’s Book of Genesis. Adam. Eve. The Snake and the apple. Well, actually, the forbidden Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil mentions an unspecified fruit.
The apple may have gotten this bad rap from the Latin language. Malus means both “apple” and “evil”, which is why it may have become the forbidden fruit to some Christians.
Apples are part of the same Rose family as pears, plums, peaches, cherries, strawberries, and raspberries. They originated from the mountains of Kazakhstan, where the modern domesticated apple still grows. In fact, the capital of Kazakhstan, Alma Ata, means “full of apples.” The fruit in Kazakhstan was discovered about 750,000 years ago as sour crab apples growing wild in the forest. 8,000 years ago Neolithic farmers in Asia cultivated wild apples. In the 1500s, Spaniards brought apples to Mexico and South America. And they made their way to North America in the 1600s.
Apples are a fascinating fruit. They are known for their extreme heterozygosity, meaning that through evolution, we can enjoy thousands of diverse varieties of this fruit. And that is because they cannot pollinate themselves, so there is little reason to expect a generation of apples to be the same as their parent generation and so on. And they can be grown in many many environments. In fact, the popular Red Delicious apple emerged by chance right here in Iowa. It was discovered by the Stark Nursery Company in 1870 and has been enjoyed ever since. The Golden Delicious came about 20 years later in West Virginia. In fact, there are some 20,000 distinct named apple varieties, unlike the two varieties of the banana, and just the one kiwi.
One of the things that makes the fruit so appealing is the versatility of it. Not only are they high in vitamins and antioxidants, you can plant them in almost any soil. You can store apples year round. You can cook them, dry them, ferment them, turn them into jams, jellies, and sauces. You can make pies, cakes, and cookies with them. You can eat them hot, you can eat them cold. And you can pick them right off the tree and crunch right into them.
The most popular apple varieties in the United States are…
Gala
Red Delicious
Granny Smith
Fuji
Honeycrisp
The largest state growers in the United States are…
Washington
New York
Michigan
Pennsylvania
California
The Results
**SPOILER ALERT!**
Listen to the episode first if you do not want the results revealed to you yet!
8th Place: Honey Crisp
Amy - 1
Kris - 3
Matt - 5
Nate - 3
7th/6th/5th Place (Three Way Tie!): Envy
Amy - 3
Kris - 4
Matt - 6
Nate - 6
7th/6th/5th Place (Three Way Tie!): Red Delicious
Amy - 3
Kris - 6
Matt - 5
Nate - 5
7th/6th/5th Place (Three Way Tie!): Fuji
Amy - 4
Kris - 6
Matt - 5
Nate - 4
4th Place: Pink Lady
Amy - 9
Kris - 7
Matt - 4
Nate - 8
3rd Place: Cosmic Crisp
Amy - 6
Kris - 9
Matt - 7
Nate - 7
1st/2nd Place (Tie!): Granny Smith
Amy - 8
Kris - 8
Matt - 6
Nate - 10
1st/2nd Place (Tie!): Gala
Amy - 7
Kris - 9
Matt - 6
Nate - 10
There you have it. Granny Smith and Gala receive the Quest for the Best seal of approval.
Thank you all for joining us on this episode of Quest for the Best. Let us know what you thought. Have you tried all these apples? We would love to hear your rating as well.
Also, do you have any foods you would love to get the coveted seal of approval? Let us know in the comments what you want to hear next.
And of course, remember to subscribe to hear the latest episodes. Additionally, paid subscribers will have access to monthly content where we put two restaurants head to head in a Quest for the Best battle. You definitely do not want to miss out.
SHOW NOTES:
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/culture/article/history-of-apples
https://www.americanscientist.org/article/the-mysterious-origin-of-the-sweet-apple
Crispy Crunchy Apples