by David Braybrooke

Created on: May 13, 2008

The best apple is of course a matter of personal opinion and one's favorite will obviously differ from another. There are so many to choose from these days including Granny Smiths, Delicious, Fujis, Gravensteins, Pink Ladies, Golden Delicious, Sundowner and even new varieties such as the Enchanted Apple (yep, that's what it's called) named because it doesn't go brown when cut.

My favorite is the Pink Lady either small or large variety. On sale at Woolworths Supermarket this week for $3.99 per kilo (in Australian dollars) the Pink Lady is surprisingly affordable for such a good quality fruit. It has a green and pink blushed skin and is a very firm and tart apple to taste. I love the fruit's crispness and durability - it has a crunch that you just can't beat.

This is owing to its superior stewing quality, perfect as a filling for apple pies and such. The flavor is robust and the consistency when cooked is compact and not too watery. I love the taste of stewed Granny Smiths on my morning bowl of cereal. Delicious!

At my local fruit shop I was privileged to be able to try a new variety called the Enchanted Apple. As mentioned it doesn't brown when sliced with a knife, a common problem for most apples (unless you squeeze lemon juice on them to preserve the color). I was very taken with the crisp consistency of this apple and the full-bodied flavor and juice. A real winner!

Another standout favorite is the Golden Delicious variety, so named because of its skins unique yellowish hue. They are firm and flavorsome and certainly worth a taste. And something about a golden color apple really stirs the imagination and harks back to fairy tales and the like.

The Fuji is also a great eating apple. Its skin is a reddish pink color and the innards are firm right to the core.

If I had to single out one variety of apple that I'm not terribly fond of I would have to mention the Delicious apple. These are a very common fruit in supermarkets and its overall popularity is astounding in my opinion. The skin is often chewy and the overall taste, in a word, bland. How they have become so popular is simply beyond me. Something about the smell of a Delicious apple is enough to turn my stomach and makes me turn away in disgust. If this type happens to be your personal favorite then good eating to you.

If you ever get the chance try your hand at apple picking; it is one of the easier fruits to pick and nothing beats the flavor of a freshly picked apple off the tree. You can eat and pick as you go. Superb!

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