FoodBanter.com - View Single Post - That apple you just bought might be a year old

Janet

In article >,
says...
>
> On 10/12/2014 12:44 AM, Jeßus wrote:
>
> >>
> >>>
> >>> That apple you just bought might be a year old ? but does it matter?
> >>
> >> No.
> >
> > Really? A fresh apple is infinitely better than an old apple in my
> > experience. Smells better, tastes better, better texture...
> >
>
> Fresh is always better, but the stored are not so bad. Properly kept,
> the can rate an 8 on a 1 to 10 scale.

Or not; and those who never tasted fresh will never know the
difference.

My farm neighbout in Scotland married a girl from New Zealand. Her
parents are major apple growers in NZ. When her mother visited Scotland
she went round all the big supermarkets looking for her products, only
to find them on sale under-ripe, not at their best. She was mortified.
For the export market, they pick apples under-ripe to be ripened during
transit and controlled storage. The UK end of the importers were instead
passing the fruit straight to supermarket distribution centres.

When we stayed in NZ I wanted to test this out for myself and she
was right. We could not believe the difference in flavour and juiciness
of the NZ apple varieties we bought and ate there, compared with the
same varieties of imported NZ apples we buy and eat at home in Scotland.
NZ running with juice, flavour packed kiwi fruit, sold from the vine/
farm in NZ, are barely recognisable as the same NX kiwi fruit we buy
imported to the UK.

In the same way, Scottish strawberries/raspberries are picked under-
ripe for export (so they travel better). If you happen to live near the
growers you can eat the real thing picked at perfection, and you won't
be interested in eating winter imports from Spain, tasteless as
cardboard.

Many Brits have never picked a perfectly ripe fresh orange straight
from the tree (or a pineapple, avocado, banana) and sadly an ever
decreasing number have never picked a perfect British apple pear or plum
straight from a tree either. Those who don't know any better than
imported assume the second rate is as good as it gets.

Janet UK