Hey all, I don't know about you, but I was looking for a decent tasting apple, but as yet have not really been too impressed, like the uk, I never really particularly liked the majority of apples, I find it difficult to find the right combination of taste, sweetness, strenght of the apple flavor, size, & juiciness, some being too dry, too bitter, some with no taste at all to me.
How do you feel about the quality of the apples here in Spain? perhaps in comparisom to the ones back in the U.S. or UK.
which became quite popular, even in the wake of the "Granny Smith" & the "Gala" & the "Golden delicious" & the crab apple, and an few other continental imports to the UK that have crept in over the last century, but the Pippins and especially the ones from Virginia were always the most famous apple of all.
I'm just having a nice peice of apple pie with custard, the apples are crappy, but what the hell, it's the thought that counts I guess, I can close my eyes and think of the orchards in Virginia.
Don't you just love apple pie? especially Virginian, a relatively simple invention, but my God, has it made life so much more enjoyable.
Oh, and remember, an apple a day, keeps the doctor away, especially if it's a Virginian "Pippin"
Damn, am I jonesin for a Pippin!!
Useful expressions of the day: "effusive praise" (Google it).
Newtown Pippins are wonderful apples....I planted a tree in my yard three years ago.
There are a few reasons that apples like Newtown Pippin and Cox Orange Pippin aren't as popular as they once were. [1] The industry has bred apples for looks and to pack without bruising, and for this, the taste has suffered. [2] People have been brainwashed into believing that the most important characteristic of an apple is the appearance, instead of the taste.
Check open air markets for apples. In a marketplace in Bayeux [Normandy] last September, I saw Cox Orange Pippins for sale. I bought 5 kilos of them and savored every bite.
I wish you luck in your search for apples!
Paul
"An honest man is always a child" - Socrates ...no wonder I'm so immature!
Thanks Paul, I'm glad to hear that you got a taste of the old Cox's orange Pippins while over in Normandy, they're still pretty good these days, and I feel that you're right about the packaging of the apples these days, they've become very over-packaged & over priced in recent times, and in my opinion not really very tasty at all, but I'll trawl all the various market towns and am sure to find something better in an open air market as you say.
You're welcome Angelo. The Newtown is from New York, but Virginia is indeed where it's supposed to grow the best. My dad's parents had one in Santa Barbara California, and it produced pretty good apples too.
I've heard that the Calville Blanc apple of France is incredible for cooking. If you see some of them late in the fall, try one and see if they are to your liking.
Trees of Antiquity site is where I got my trees.
In addition to the Newtown Pippin, I have a Hauer Pippin [parent was Cox Orange Pippin] and Arkansas Black.
I'd love to grow the Cox here, but it's a notoriously fussy tree and my climate is totally different than where it grows well [England]
My Newtown did put out apples last year, but they tasted mealy...I think it's because the tree is not mature. I am hoping they will get better.
"An honest man is always a child" - Socrates ...no wonder I'm so immature!
