Apples - They Get So Much Better Than Red Delicious October 13 2016

Red Delicious used to be the one of the only apple varieties available. Remember?  And Red Delicious, for most of us, are decidedly not delicious.  Mealy and bland, not the best apple representative. 

These days though there are so many varieties with different levels of crispness and sweetness.  And some of them are SO delicious.  Remember how things changed when Honeycrisp suddenly appeared? 

Well, this is largely thanks to an enterprising apple farmer and a miracle apple.

Check out his story on developing new apples and the surprising world of trademarking new apple names and branding that is driving these new varieties.  Yes, branding! 

This season we've discovered a new-to-us apple variety we love, the Swiss Gourmet from Ela Family Farms - our favorite fruit farmer - on the Western Slope.  This variety is not often available in stores here in the U.S., so is a special treat.

Not surprisingly, these apples were created in Switzerland by combining an excellent baking apple, the Ida Red, and the Golden Delicious.  They're known as Arlet in Europe and are more of a sweet dessert apple, but they have tartness to them as well making for a lovely full flavor.