In THE BATTLE OF THE LETTUCES, romaine lettuce narrowly beat iceberg lettuce with butterhead lettuce coming a distant third in the poll.
As a nod to autumn (fall to my American friends), it's now the turn of apples to do battle!
Apples are widely grown and eaten all over the world. They are drunk as a juice or cider, and they are eaten uncooked and cooked served up in savoury and sweet dishes. Apples can be juiced, pulped, mashed, sauced, blended, sliced, quartered, peeled, cored, caramelised, pickled, jellied, baked, roasted, fried, sautéed, grilled, barbecued, stewed, poached, boiled, marinated, seasoned, spiced, iced, microwaved, fermented, picked, scrumped and genetically-modified. The humble apple is arguably the most utilitarian of all fruits and even foods.
Unusually, and especially as there are well over 7,500 different types (or cultivars as experts like to say) of apples, there are no caveats in this poll - all apples can be voted for, even for the bitterly disgusting crab apple which seemingly can only pass edible muster served up as a jelly.
There are lots of apples I've not eaten, including the Knobby Russet - see photo immediately below, but my favourite apples are the Bramley (great for apple pie), Cox's Orange Pippin, Cripps Pink (aka Pink Lady), Egremont Russet and Gala, with Braeburn being the best apple in my book.
Knobby Russet apples:
But of all the apples I've eaten, my least favourite, crab apple aside, is the Granny Smith apple, though I'm not sure I would eat a Swayzie apple unless I'm dirty-dancing with Jennifer Grey!
What are your most and least favourite apples?
What are your favourite apple dishes?
Do you eat an apple a day to keep the doctor away?
My favourite apple dishes are apple crumble, apple pie and apple strudel, all served up with custard. I'm not keen on apple sauce served with roast pork, cider (especially scrumpy), slices of apple in a salad, and toffee apples sold in fairgrounds.
I don't and never have eaten an apple a day to keep the doctor away. At best I may eat an apple a month. Bananas, cherries, grapes, peaches and satsumas are more my go-to fruits to eat.
Below is a poll where you can anonymously select your most favourite apple. Unfortunately only one pick is allowed in the poll.
But a poll on this site can only have 20 answer options. As well as the crab apple, there was no room for the Abbomdanza, Abram, Adina, Admiral, Akane, Alaska, Alice, Alpes de Haute Durance, Ambrosia, American Beauty, Ananasrenette, Anna, Arctic, Arkansas Black, Aroma, Ashmore, Autumn Glory, Baldwin, Barcelona Pearmain, Baronesa, Beefsteak, Belle de Boskoop, Belmont, Benoni, Black Diamond, Blenheim Orange, Bramley, Calville Blanc, Cameo, Canada, Chenango, Cox's Pomona, Crimson Delight, Cripps Red, Crispin (aka Mutsu), Dabinett, Delbarestivale, Discovery, Duchess of Oldenburg, Egremont Russet, Elstar, Envy, Evelina, Evercrisp, Firiki Piliou, Gloster, Golden Nugget, Golden Supreme, Goldrenette (aka Reinette), GoldRush, Gravenstein, Grenadier, Haralson, Hokuto, Hunnyz, Jabłka Grójeckie, Jabłka Łąckie, James Grieve, Jazz, Juici, Juliet, Junami, Kanzi, Karmijn de Sonnaville, Keepsake, Kidd's Orange Red, Kiku, King, Kingston Black, Kinsei, Knobby Russet, Koru, Lady Alice, Laxton's Superb, Limousin, Lobo, Maçã Bravo de Esmolfe, Maçã de Alcobaça, Macoun, Magic Star, Malinda, Mela Val di Non, Melrose, Mila Delicious Pilafa Tripoleos, Mila Zagoros Piliou, Milo Kastorias, Newton Wonder, Northern Greening, Northern Spy, Nova Easygro, Opal, Orin, Otaheite, Pacific Rose, Pam's Delight, Paulared, Piñata (aka Pinova), Pink Pearl, Porter, Primate, Queen, Rave, Red Prince, Red Windsor, Reine des Reinettes, Rhode Island Greening, Rockit, Rosalynn, Rubens, Sampion, Sciros, Sekai Ichi, Seneca Crisp, Smitten, Snow, Spartan, Stark Delicious, Stayman, SugarBee, Summerred, Sunburst, Sunrise Magic, Swayzie, SweeTango, Sweet Bough, Sweeie, Sweet Sixteen, Tellissaare, Tolman Sweet, Topaz, Topred, Transparent, Wagener, Wealthy, Winesap, Winston (named after Winston Churchill), Worcester Pearmain, York, Yorkshire Greening, Zari and Zestar! apples. Hopefully I've covered all the popular apples as poll options. I never want 'other' to win as that's a sign of a poorly designed poll.
I think the Granny Smith apple will win the poll, but the Cripps Pink, Fuji, Gala, Golden Delicious and Red Delicious apples may run her close. I think this may be a close contest not seen since Brussels sprouts narrow and shock victory in the THE BATTLE OF THE VEGETABLES. May the best apple win!
Please see my comment below to see what has won each battle so far.
Apple strudel with custard:
11
27 comments
Cosmic Crisp is fairly new here but are now #1 next to Granny Smith (tartest)
Love making apple pies and crisps!
I said golden delicious, but there are others I like as well. 🍏🍎 My home state is famous for it’s apples. 😎
Gala's are my favorite but only fresh off the tree. Store bought ones are usually awful and mealy.
@spunkycumfun I am not sure but to me Galas go mealy pretty quickly. I have a gala apple tree in my front yard and as long as they are on the tree they are good and crisp.
Golden delicious is my vote. Love all apples...not a bad one in the bunch. Though i still never even heard of some of these. I learn so much from your polls. Im having cooked apples as we speak....with biscuits. Yup....some kinda apple product daily~
@spunkycumfun Noooooo....not a crumble..to me its like applesauce spread on toast...cept these were apple slices. Nothing fancy Spunk....just apples n bread~
😲🤯, there's an apple named Jonathan? Luckily my parents spelled my name Johnathan. Very interesting to me because I have a feeling the apple has been around before 1980 😂.
There all good in my salsa !
I have been hitting on apples today! I had apple cobbler after dinner.
I adore apple pie as well as cooked, cinnamon apples.
I do not eat an apple a day.
Hugs!
Lucy Glow and Mutsu (which I grow) are fantastic. But, since those aren't around all the time, Cosmic Crisp, Sugar Bee, Honeycrisp, the original Fuji, Pippin, and Granny Smith are darned good runners up.
The tarter varieties (Pippin and Granny Smith) are great for cooking/baking (baked apples, pies, sauce). I grew Cox's Orange Pippin for a few short years, but in our crazy weather it had difficulty surviving in a pot and eventually died. When I did get fruit, the flavor was quite good, so I'd try growing it again.
I also grow Red Love 'Era;, which is pretty, but tends to be mealy, so I probably wouldn't recommend it for raw eating.
@spunkycumfun Lucy Glo is one of the red/pink-fleshed, crisp apples developed in Washington state (USA) that's available for a very limited time in October/November. It's crisp, slightly tangy, fruity with berry overtones. See Lucyapples dot com.
Northern Spy
I hear they make fantastic pies, but we almost never see these in the southwest/California.
I voted for Fuji since it's widely available here in the land of the rising sun. Tho I was surprised to see how tiny they are in the US. Jonathan (called kogyoku 紅玉 here) used to be the go-to apple for apple pie before other types were introduced. Ourin 王林 (called Orin during the idol group years when there was a girl band with that name) is another popular apple. A nickname for Ourin is freckled beauty.
I like Jonathon and Northern Spy apples for eating. They are juicy and just a tad tart plus not overly large. When a pastry is baked with apples, I generally don't know (nor care) what kind of apple is used.
According to the Michigan Dept of Agriculture ... the largest apples grown in the USA come from Washington state. However the better tasting ones are from Michigan and New York state. Those three states are the top apple producers in America.The soil that apples are grown in influence the taste.
@spunkycumfun I have a book - 101 Apple Recipes. The recipes will usually specify what type of apple to use.
Another interesting battle you have here to start off our week.
I am not a huge fan of apples honestly.
What are your most and least favourite apples? Granny Smith is
the one I would pick to be my favorite. All other apples are my
least favorite.
What are your favourite apple dishes? When I was in elementary
school they used to make this Apple Crisp and I really enjoyed
it.
Do you eat an apple a day to keep the doctor away? No not a
fan of apples.
I hope your Monday is a great start to your week..
The Apple is the one fruit that I will eat in and form. Although I have been told that the Granny Smith's are best for Apple Pie, I pretty much like the flexibility that one can digest it in so many ways.
Although they are different, I prefer to eat Pineapple. Yes apple is in its name, but they are rather different. I do enjoy eating more fruit these days.I usually shop for what's in season but I always have to have fruit at my home. I wish I could say the the Apple is the apple of my eye, but it is the Pineapple. Good thing that I won't poke myself in the eye with one.
@hippiechick1967 How so hippiechick???
@hippiechick1967 Really??? Then that would explain why those women who have tasted mine say it taste rather good. I thought they were just being nice.
What are your most and least favourite apples?
I'm partial to Galas. I don't think I have a least favorite.
What are your favourite apple dishes?
Apple crisp the way my grandmother made it, with white flour.
Do you eat an apple a day to keep the doctor away?
I eat fruit every day and sometimes it's apples.
@spunkycumfun It's like a cobbler without the pastry crust, instead having a crispy flour topping.
What is satsuma's? Honeycrisp or Gala for me, my favorite is caramel apples, or apple pie. I couldn't read all the apple, kind of got lost. Now caramel apples usually are made with tart apples, like the Granny Smith. Got one coming in the mail.
@spunkycumfun
I thought you were talking about the mikan and not sweet potato 😂
@spunkycumfun They are called Cuties here, or tangerines.
@spunkycumfun
Mikans are what you call satsumas.
Sweet Tango has overtaken Honey Crisp as my favorite (although I still enjoy Honey Crisp and voted for it in the poll).
My most common apple consumption is chopped up and added to morning oatmeal - that happens several times a week. If I had a pastry chef in residence, there would be frequent apple pies!