When the winds blow out the heat and humidity of summer and the nights of autumn turn cool and crisp many people go in search of that one fruit that is its best in autumn. The reader may think that special autumn fruit is the pumpkin, and while the pumpkin is very much associated with autumn and harvest time decoration, the pumpkin is no fruit at all, but a gourd. The real king of autumn fruits is the same one that most kindergartener's first learn to spell, the apple.
The apple has been an important autumn food since ancient times, and since then its fleshy sweet goodness has been enjoyed eaten raw, cooked, dried, and made into ciders, both hard and soft. There are, today, over seven thousand varieties of apples but the most popular by far for eating raw and for most types of cooking are the red delicious, the gala, the golden delicious, and the honey crisp.
The red delicious is the apple most people think of when they hear the word ‘apple.’ This variety is known for its rounded shape, firm, sweet flesh, and most of all, for its brilliant red skin. The red delicious, consistently ranks close to the top in sales of all apple varieties, though in recent years this standing has been closely challenged by some other types. The red delicious is and apple which, due to its thick skin and firmness, is fairly bruise resistant and has a fairly long shelf life, keeping its lovely color sometimes for weeks.
The gala apple has also become a very popular variety. Gala apples are a bit on the small side when compared to other varieties and are identified by its fairly thin, greenish skin which is usually striped with red. The flesh of the gala apple is sweet and a bit mealy in texture, and the apple has a good degree of bruise resistance.
The golden delicious, despite its name, actually isn’t closely related to the red delicious variety. This flesh of the golden delicious is a bit softer than the other varieties, and with its thin skin, the golden delicious can be a bit prone to bruising and shriveling. The very sweet flavor of this apple makes it a good choice for eating raw, cooked, added to salads, or, perhaps best of all, made into apple sauce or apple butter.
The honeycrisp, another very popular variety, is another of the smallish apples and can’t be identified by its skin which is usually a dull red striped with a greenish tint. The honeycrisp, as its name implies, is a firm fleshed and very sweet tasting apple. When stored in cool dry conditions this apple has a very good shelf life.
Autumn days can be cool and crisp, and made much sweeter when accented with the taste of fresh from the harvest apples. Whether wanted for cooking, eating raw, drying, making sauce, or apple butter, there is a variety of apple that is sure to fit the bill. Though the eye may be caught for a moment by the grinning, carved pumpkin on the lawn, the humble apple fits the bill to fill the appetite and please all the senses.
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