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It's completely the opposite. A few decades ago the only apples you could get anywhere in the US were McIntosh, red delicious (which were very much not deliciou

It's completely the opposite. A few decades ago the only apples you could get anywhere in the US were McIntosh, red delicious (which were very much not delicious), golden delicious (same), and Granny Smith. They were the only apples that could survive the weeks-to-months-long harvest and bulk transport processes. Other than Granny Smith, you can't even find those apples in stores anymore. Now we've got a dozen varieties in every suburban supermarket, and specialty stores have even more options.

ghaff 4y ago
>Other than Granny Smith, you can't even find those apples in stores anymore. Absolutely not true in New England--although I agree with your assessment on red delicious and golden delicious in particular. McIntoshes aren't great for cooking but they're pretty good eating apples--although I don't usually buy them my neighbor as quite a few trees of them in her orchard. Granny Smiths tend to be my go to for cooking.
biotinker 4y ago
McIntosh apples do not keep well, and it's very rare to find them significantly out of season. This time of year it would be difficult to find anyone with McIntosh available, now or a couple decades ago. They are a very popular apple in the northeastern US, though, so if you grew up in that area it's no surprise you found them everywhere, for probably ~5 months out of the year. While it's certainly true that the varieties of apple available are much larger now than they were, unfortunately a lot of the common varieties nowadays are bred with longevity more in mind than flavor, and also have parentage from e.g. red delicious and share its distinctive cardboard flavor (in my opinion).
micromacrofoot 4y ago
Which suburbs do you live in? still the same old 5 varieties here. I drove for 3-4 hours to get to an orchard that grows a variety that used to be a local staple 20 years ago. 30 years ago the variety was much greater over here in the mid atlantic.

ghaff 4y ago

>Other than Granny Smith, you can't even find those apples in stores anymore. Absolutely not true in New England--although I agree with your assessment on red delicious and golden delicious in particular. McIntoshes aren't great for cooking but they're pretty good eating apples--although I don't usually buy them my neighbor as quite a few trees of them in her orchard. Granny Smiths tend to be my go to for cooking.

biotinker 4y ago

McIntosh apples do not keep well, and it's very rare to find them significantly out of season. This time of year it would be difficult to find anyone with McIntosh available, now or a couple decades ago. They are a very popular apple in the northeastern US, though, so if you grew up in that area it's no surprise you found them everywhere, for probably ~5 months out of the year. While it's certainly true that the varieties of apple available are much larger now than they were, unfortunately a lot of the common varieties nowadays are bred with longevity more in mind than flavor, and also have parentage from e.g. red delicious and share its distinctive cardboard flavor (in my opinion).

micromacrofoot 4y ago

Which suburbs do you live in? still the same old 5 varieties here. I drove for 3-4 hours to get to an orchard that grows a variety that used to be a local staple 20 years ago. 30 years ago the variety was much greater over here in the mid atlantic.