The Big Apple: Day 1 (Empire)

Before I moved to New York, I knew of only three kinds of apples: red, green and yellow.

To be honest, I knew the red ones were called Red Delicious and the green ones were Granny Smith. My parents also had an apple tree that grew little apples that they claim are called "Anna Apples". I have no idea if this is true. Also, I still have no idea what the yellow ones were and mostly they turned up in holiday fruit baskets.

Since moving here, however, I have learned there are hundreds of varieties of apples. I've also learned that apple picking season is in the fall, not the spring/summer like most fruits I know. In the fall, not only are there apples galore, but apple doughnuts and apple cider hit the circuit big time.

My favorite of apple is now The Pink Lady. It is on the shelves for only a very short period of time...maybe two months, starting in September. It is a wonderfully sweet, crunchy apple. Really it's all I could ever want in an apple.

Alas, since it's season is so short, I've decided to sample my through every apple I can fine in New York and report to you my impressions of these apples. I bought six different kinds at the store the other night. One of each. The woman behind the counter looked at me like I was crazy and said, "Are you making a pie?"

"No," I said, "I just like apples. I like different kinds of apples." This sounded incredibly dumb coming out of my mouth.

Anyway, moving along to the point of all this exposition. Today's apple: The Empire. (Pictured above.)

I give this apple a thumbs down. It's a beautiful looking apple with a sort of marbled red, pink and yellow skin and a white meat. But it is an exercise in opposites. It is crunchy to the bite, but soft and mealy to the chew. (I HATE mealy apples!) It is both sweet and sour to the taste. I think this apple would be better served in a salad or a sandwich, not eaten alone.

After writing my impression of this apple, I went to do some research. The apple, apparently was created by the New York State Agricultural Experiment Station in Geneva (Ontario County, not Switzerland) in 1966. And my impression seems to be consistent with its description. You can read more about it here.