Hunting around for apple information on the variety Ambrosia, I came across this great quotation from 1922:
Why do we need so many different kinds of apples? Because there are so many different kinds of folks. A person has a right to gratify his legitimate tastes. If he wants 20 or 40 kinds of apples for his personal use, running from 'Early Harvest' to 'Roxbury Russet', he should be afforded the privilege....There is merit in variety itself. It provides more points of contact with life, and leads away from uniformity and monotony.Isn't that the truth. The apple list which uses that quotation as its header can be found here.-Liberty Hyde Bailey in 'The Apple Tree', 1922
Comments
Alan - November 27, 2003 2:23 PM
Braeburn - a New Zealand contender which is in late November almost too hard to eat. Storage apples were those that would be like rocks when picked and soften over the winter months, as starches turn to sugars through enzymic activity. The Braeburn in my hand browned quickly - minutes, tasted "candied" according to one account which is a good word, medium acid, a bit orangy, flesh "coarse" according to GovCanApple which is sub-mealy but still reminicent of repidly dissolving beach sand. Not as juicy as advertised - no one would get a spurt in the eye across the table - could be too early in its season. Good but not the perfect apple.
Alan - November 27, 2003 2:28 PM
My surfing has uncovered a graphical representation of apple flavour which I would ask each of you to refer to in future correspondence as it is, of course, approved by GovCanApple.