In the world of fruits, they are the epitome of middle-of-the-road boring. A bit of sweet, a bit of tart, and a weird scratchy texture that has a hint of but no dedication to crispness.
Yet at the local QFC (supermarket), they take up 2 full island displays out of 5! There is a side aisle adjacent with vegetables as well, but 40% of the central display area for fruits and vegetables are just… apples.
Sure, you can go on about different varieties. I know all about the stupid Fijis, McIntoshes, Granny Smiths, Galas, and Golden Delicious - awesome names, but just a massive cover-up to hide the slight variations on bland. The only apple worth a damn is the Honey Crisp, and even then it’s just on par in taste with an average pear.
And it’s those poor pears and grapes and mangoes and berries and grapefruit that are all forced to jam themselves together in the 1-1.5 remaining island display area reserved for fruits. Some of these poor fruits don’t even make it… on any island. What have they done to deserve such an ignominious fate? Did they have too much flavor? Too much character?
So tell me, what is with this apple fetishism that pervades our nation’s grocery stores? It’s a cabal of commonness, a pact of plainness, and they are in control of everything. Who decided that “it’s as American as apple pie”? *They *did, and we’ve all been brainwashed.
But here’s what I say. Apples don’t have to rule our fruitstands just because they want it to be so. Stand up for your kiwis, your pears, your tired plums, and your huddled kumquats! Let the appleocracy know that this will not stand!
Maybe this doesn’t belong in this thread, but what is up with Red “Delicious” anyway? These have to be the worst apples in flavor and texture. Does anyone eat them? Why are they always the ones in the hotel breakfast bar?
The Red Delicious is made of recycled cores and stems from much better tasting apples that were turned into juice and apple sauce. Getting you to eat them is cheaper then paying to have them incinerated or dumped in a landfill.
If you want a real answer ( hey, why not? ) it was because it was easily grown in Washington ( where it built that state’s apple empire ) and was very attractive visually which sold well. It was also apparently once a lot tastier when the first mutant was discovered in the late 19th century, but mass production with a focus on higher producing trees, prettier skin, larger size and improved storage qualities like thicker skin ultimately degraded flavor. By the 1980’s they were chewy, thick-skinned, globs of bland prettiness. And they started losing ground rapidly to the tastier apples, which now have largely but not entirely replaced them.
But they’re still big and bright red so some folks still buy them.
