The Logic Lifeline

A logical approach to sorting out world events. Where logic, opinion and speculation are combined to produce a reasoned, but entertaining reading experience. The unofficial hometown conservative blog of Woodridge, Il

Monday, September 24, 2007

Looking for the Holy Grail of Apples

For a number of years now I have been on a low key quest for what I term the "Holy Grail" of apples. When I was a kid, the apples simply tasted better. At that time a Red Delicious was actually delicious. There are several key qualities to an apple: the look and coloring on the outside; the texture, moisture and crispness of the inside; and of course the fullness and sweetness of taste. For the record, I don't really care what an apple looks like on the outside but that seems to be the one and only concern of grocers today. The problem is so bad that apples are very much like politicians - especially presidential candidates. All polish and shine on the outside, but dry and mealy on the inside; and completely tasteless.

I have never tasted a delicious apple that did not have the right texture on the inside. So it is not similar to the old saying "Fast, Good, Cheap pick any two". I have tasted a sweet apple that was ugly on the outside. So an apple can be ugly but it must be moist and crisp to even hope to taste good. An apple should be moist enough to drip on your chin when you bite into it. An apple must be firm enough to make a denture wearer nervous.

The taste of an apple must be sweet. I am not talking about a little sweet - a lot sweet. It must be so sweet that any temptation to eat a piece of candy instead is driven from your mind. In the requirement of an apple to "taste sweet", most apples today do not get past the first word - taste. Most apples today do not have any taste at all. Take a glass of water, a bottle of the new Fruit H2O drinks (that are water with a few drops of flavor in them) and a glass of Kool-Aid. 80% of the apples today would be closer to the glass of water and the rest of them at best like the Fruit H2O.

In my quest, I have actually bought some of the individual apples at the grocers that end up costing almost $3 each. A little better than the tasteless mush in the bags, but still no prize winners. At this point in my failed quest I truly do not care how much it costs. I would pay $5 or more each for a truly delicious apple. I would buy it online if I had to. I would drive or make vacation plans around the location of a great apple if it were a sure bet. I am hoping that somebody reading this will be able to help me end this quest. Any help would be appreciated. The apples today are so poor in quality that they have sunk down to the level of a simple staple food like potatoes or rice. We have so many exotic fruits and I love many of them. However, nothing is quite as good as a great apple.

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8 Comments:

  • At 11:30 AM, Blogger paw said…

    Ever come across a Honeycrisp? If you haven't tried one, I'd search it out. See this.

    "...bred the Honeycrisp to have unusually large cells (twice as big as the normal apple) which account for its big crunch and "explosively crisp" texture."

    I haven't seen them since I left Minnesota, and even then I'd usually see them only in smaller upscale groceries and only from Minnesota producers. But I understand they are getting around. Looks like google serves up a lot of hits - you might be able to order some in they are not available in your area.

     
  • At 7:17 PM, Blogger All_I_Can_Stands said…

    Thanks paw. Can't wait to try one.

     
  • At 9:30 AM, Blogger SkyePuppy said…

    The town of Julian, up in the mountains outside of San Diego, holds its annual Apple Festival in October (lots of apple pie). I don't guarantee the quality of the apples (only the pies), but I believe their apples are locally grown, so you might have a chance of finding a great one.

    BTW, your post reminds me of the way I feel about peaches. I'm afraid to buy them at the store, because I'm almost always disappointed by how grainy and tasteless they are. It didn't used to be that way when I was in high school.

     
  • At 8:20 PM, Blogger Return to Westernesse said…

    Believe it or not, I have recently been on a similar quest for a pear and have not had any luck. In my opinion, nothing beats a great pear, not even a great apple.

     
  • At 8:30 PM, Blogger Return to Westernesse said…

    By the way, glad to see how prolific you've been lately. I must admit, I didn't visit for a while, and suddenly there seem to be about a hundred new posts. I'm glad you've got the fever again.

     
  • At 9:11 PM, Blogger All_I_Can_Stands said…

    In my opinion, nothing beats a great pear, not even a great apple.

    It is hard to pick between a great apple, a great pear and a great peach. I think I am looking for a great apple because I would more often eat an apple. So if you take frequency times pleasure to come up with a score, even if the others taste better the apple scores higher.

    I currently eat nearly an apple every day. I get the bags of Gala apples from Aldi. They are tolerable.

    As for my posts, yes the break seems to have helped. There also seems to be more interesting things to write about. I still think the GOP is spineless, though.

     
  • At 9:59 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    Tonight I gleefully discovered that my Whole Foods has conventionally grown Honey Crisps from Washington for a decent price under one of those folksy signs that basically says "blah blah blah developed in 1990 blah THE BEST APPLE EVER."

    Your good friend,

    paw

     
  • At 12:51 AM, Blogger All_I_Can_Stands said…

    paw,

    My store has them and they are pretty good - better than anything else I have found. Love the crunch! I am still looking for a bit sweeter, though.

     

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