Sings: "Peaches in the summertime, Apples in the fall..."

[capri0mni]

Found a new variety of apple (new to me, at least) in the store, today: Ginger Gold. The ones in the store were bright, shiny green. So I bought a couple, and just ate one raw. Made my tongue curl with its tartness, but there was an intense apple flavor that exploded in my brain. And if I'd known better, or had read that WikiPedia article first, I would have known they were still unripe -- well, that explains the tartness, but not why such an early-ripening apple would be in the store unripe at the end of October, ffs. Especially since it's a super-local, Virginia apple.

Postscript: in case you're wondering about the tune that goes with "Sings:" you can hear it here: Shady Grove (Sung and played by Lew Dite on the tenor banjo)

Comments

[meloukhia]

Oh my, that sounds delicious. I will add this to the list of apples to try.

I finally succumbed to the Honeycrisp promoters, and have been pleased; they really are quite tasty.

[capri0mni]

It was delicious. But now, I'm wishing I'd gotten a chance to discover them ripe. Because now, my belly is griping at me, a little bit, even as I was thinking "Yum" with each bite. I think you probably could do a lot of good things with them in their unripened state. As I was puckering my way through the one I was trying, I was thinking: this would make a fantastic apple butter -- or as an apple stewed and stirred into hot cereal... Something where the apple flavor stays intact even through cooking.

(I also bought honey crisps -- they're my favorite, no-gilding-necessary "dessert" apple)

[spiralsheep]

\o/ Apple porn! \o/

[capri0mni]

Actually, after checking out the Wikipedia article for "Ginger gold," I think the bin of apples in the store was mislabeled, and what I was actually eating was a different variety altogether... it's too deep a green to be "granny smith." But it's also too round to be "ginger gold" (and also, too late in the season). So --

But yes, I think this particular varietal was bred to be a cooking apple, 'cause eating it raw left me with a tummy ache.

I have one left. I'm thinking of stewing it up in a pot of pearled barley, with a little salt, sugar, and cinnamon. I'm thinking, perhaps, the apple pectin mixed with the barley starch would give the whole thing a glorious pudding texture (especially if I stir in a couple generous dollops of cream cheese).

[spiralsheep]

Granny Smiths can be quite dark and sometimes give me indigestion, partly because it's difficult to tell when they're perfectly edibly ripe. Your cooking solution sounds yummy!

[capri0mni]

I hope so... I may do it as soon as I find the cutting tool that's most comfortable for me to dice it up with...