Monday, October 17, 2011

Designer apples

A Honeycrisp at Whittier Fruit Farm

At this time of year I get a little apple crazy. It seemed like none of us could rest until we got to Whittier Farm to pick Honeycrisp.

We are lucky to have Whittier Farm in Rochester - they are a co-op of the University of Minnesota, and they were hand selected to grow the hybrid apples developed by U of M.

What could be so unique about an apple? The Honeycrisp was deleloped with a special characteristic. "This one-of-a-kind apple gets its great eating character from its uniquely oversized cells. While the flesh of other apples cleaves between cells, leaving the cell walls intact, when bitten, Honeycrisp’s extra-large cells burst open, releasing a mouthful of juice." Woah.

SweeTango from Wegmans

Now there is a new designer apple - SweeTango. It's even making the news. The University of Minnesota created it by combining Honeycrisps with Zestar! (the ! is part of the name) I love that the Zestar! is known for..."The side of the fruit facing the sun develops a sweet spot that’s brighter red and wildly flavorful."

SweeTango even has it's own logo. You can't pick SweeTango yet but you can buy them at Whittier and Wegmans.

4 comments:

  1. You've just posted about my 2 all-time favorite apple varieties. I have a bag of Honeycrisps in my fridge right now! I tried SweeTango for the first time just a couple weeks ago, and it was wonderful.

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  2. We grow Honeycrisps on our farm as one of our 10 apple varieties. I've already processed over 70 lbs of apples so far this fall and still have more to go. :)

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  3. I've been following your blog for years now and have always been intrigued when you talk about the Honeycrisps. I finally saw them this week at Trader Joe's and the sweet smell was so strong I snatched up two bags! They are freaking delicious! My stomach and mouth thank you.

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