Here’s one of those random Cafe posts. I just had to tell somebody.
Yesterday, while shopping at Costco, I was looking for “new crop” apples and came across SweeTango. A google search showed it’s a cross between Honey Crisp (my usual favorite) and Zestar. Like both of these varieties, it’s a University of Minnesota variety. A Huffington Post review convinced me to try it:
HuffPost editors selflessly took a bite out of a SweeTango (OK, we all demolished our own apples — loudly, as they have a mighty crunch — in a matter of seconds) and agreed: Its taste is sour like a Granny Smith while simultaneously sweet like a Red Delicious. The texture is almost carbonated — it’s incredibly airy, light and not at all mealy. And most distinctive is the apple’s juiciness: In this sense, the fruit is closer to an orange. Really — the juice dribbles down your chin with every bite.
The mention of a red delicious is regrettable, since I can’t stand those. And the juice didn’t dribble down my chin. But SweeTango apples are lovely – sweet, tart, crisp, light in texture, juicy, and almost carbonated, as HuffPo said. There are many fruits I prefer to apples, but these are really delightful. Like Honey Crisp’s lighter, bubblier cousin.
Only available in early fall. Get 'em while you can.
My favorite apple is probably the Mutsu. Huge, juicy, sweet with a little tartness. Good for eating and baking. I haven’t seen them in stores but are local orchards have them but they are a late season apple.
I just bought sweet tango apples yesterday, they didn’t have honey crisp at the farmers market yet.
I still prefer the honey crisp, the sweet tangos I had were very tart. They were very good though. My H will like them as he finds the honey crisp more sweet than he prefers. The ones I bought were small which I like, the honey crisp I’ve bought in the past were huge.
We’ve got a pick your own orchard almost across the street, they do a booming business in Sept/Oct! Can’t wait to see if they have Sweet Tango, sounds delicious! My favorite is Empire, followed closely by Macoun…
This thread is funny to me because i was at Fresh Market - where I don’t normally shop - but was noticing some different variety apples yesterday…like Lemonade variety! I was looking for honeycrisp to enjoy with the natural crunchy pb I was buying, but no honeycrisp to be found. Red delicious would be the last apple I’d pick - never have been able to stomach biting into one.
@zipyourlips, when we lived in MN we used to make an annual trek in the fall to the (amazing) U-MN Landscaoe Arboretum and the Apple House just down the road. You can sample and buy their new apple varieties. Some still just have numbers (no names yet). We’d bring some home for eating and pies. Those are some of our very best MN memories.
Red delcious apples are disgusting. They don’t even taste like cardboard, they taste bad. I don’t get why people buy them. Back in the 1970s I still remember eating the world’s most delicious Macintosh, but it’s rare to get one that is both crispy and flavorful these days. I still cook with them though.
At this time of the year Zestars are my favorite apple. My farm stand who grows them had them starting in late August. Once they are gone - I’ll switch to Honey Crisps and Snapdragons later in the fall.
I buy apples direct from the farms and I only buy/eat them during the season. H eats apples all year round so I buy him HC’s and Pink Lady’s out of season at grocery - but he’ll eat any apple except Golden Delicious.
I don’t eat apples much, but I do miss the Macintosh of my youth, New York State apples. I bake with them when they’re available.
I never used to buy red delicious, though lately the kids have been eating small organic ones that come in a bag. I have no idea whether they taste better than the non-organic ones, though that does seem to be the case for the bagged gala at our local grocery.
@abasket it’s a little early for honey crisps which have a later harvest. But the harvest is early this year and they are starting to show up in shops. So look back next week.
^^Yes, our local orchard (which you may know!) said they had them for purchase at the orchard already picked. This weekend is the first picking weekend but I believe they do not allow honeycrisp picking - they are too in demand!
Here we can get Macouns and wait expectantly. They apparently don’t store well, long term, so we wait for that sweet spot month or so. Similar with a variety of potatoes here. Fresh local potatoes are a treat.
Love Honey Crisp. Odd tale. I could get them all summer at my market, then not. The guy said the season’s over. (Really?) But WF has them. Cold, so likely from storage.
Agree something happened to Red Delicious. Over breeding for long term holding?
Red Delicious are still great apples fresh off the tree. They lose their flavor quickly, thus all the hybridization to get that good Red Delicious quality to last through all the processing, storage, and distribution steps.
LF, my store has honey crisps all year and it’s because they cold storage them. But they are all ginormous so I don’t buy them since they arent quite as good as in season,
I used to wait, not so patiently, for the macouns but the apples i mentioned I like even more so the macouns are down the list now.
I’ll have to look, emily. Yes, we used to get so excited when one of us found the first of the Macouns. And they weren’t all “perfect,” which added to the “local” allure.
