My information comes from France, where I live.
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Did you read what I wrote? You donât breath the info from the air and it seems to me that youâd have to dine at 100âs of fine restaurants and quarry their chefs to even begin to know what is the trend of varieties they use. Maybe youâve done this, but at least it would be helpful if you specifically told me (us?) from where you derive your info. I have friends who spent most of their lives in France who wouldnât know this just as I donât know what chefs tend to use in the state where I live. I donât think Iâve ever even bought an apple based desert at a fancy restaurant.
Were there any Calvilles in your photos? I canât see any apples that look like mine of that variety.
Read my other posts
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This tells me nothing of the most popular varieties chefs use for deserts. Probably the top chef school in Paris would have some teachers who know what the trends are.
Reinette Gris ⌠something
I love these sort of posts, its great to see whatâs available in other countries.
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Nice work!
Several years ago I made a mince meat pie (used roast beef) with Pink Pearl apple in it. Kept the color, shape & added a subtle berry note to the already complex flavors.
Must see if they are available at that market for anotherâŚ
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Its mince pie season!
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I used Goldrush, Ashmeadâs kernel, and a couple of Mutsu, turned out great!
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The chefs who provided recipes for this article recommended Honeycrisp, Golden Delicious, and Granny Smith (and several didnât specify a variety).
I made our apple pies this year primarily from a mix of Baldwin and Spygold (from a local orchard, not our trees). Iâm no great baker but it turned out quite nicely.
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This was in the late 60âs early 70âs. They , McDonaldâs, always had vendors and suppliers to make sure they didnât run out of their raw products they used. The number of stores they had back then is no where close to what they have now. So I would say " yes" they had suppliers to supply them with enough Northern Spy apple for their apple pies.
** addition** The number of apple pies sold back then was not close to what are sold today either. It was not something we sold a lot of. I do not think they sell a lot of apple pies today ( or whatever combo of pies they come up with).
We only had two pies back then. Apple was available all the time. Then we would have cherry pies on the spring.
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You can also see my reply above to scottmartin49.
Our stores were all company owned stores. All franchise stores had to buy their products through the same McDonaldâs company suppliers. There are regions that try certain different new products but they all have to approved through McDonaldâs corp.
So again, âYesâ McDonaldâs used Northern Spy apples for their fried apple pies, back then. If they changed apples it would be a long time after I left McDonaldâs. They tasted the same to me after I left, really delicious. They had that many Northern Spy apple suppliers.
You did not work at McDonaldâs nor had the info about their supply chain. Ray Kroc was very particular about the products he had used at McDonaldâs. A few stories I could tell but this isnât the thread for that. I did meet him a few times during the years I worked there.
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It still begs belief there were enough commercial growers of strictly âNorthern Spyâ to support McDonaldâs apple pie program. Spending over a decade in regional and Area Restaurant management; I think you misunderstand how commercial commodity contracts are issued.
Not only do companies cite USDA Grading Standards; they also usually also specify USDA Conventional Specifications. Including the Apple must meet like typical variety taste standards. In this case McDâs could cite âNorth Spyâ displayed conventions.
There are a boatload of apple cultivars that meet that. And hence are equal too and/or exceed Northern Spy. Meaning they are perfectly permissible to substitute.
Go over to the USDA ARS GRIN-Global Accessions website.
Search âRed Spyâ. The term âNorthern Spyâ is a synonym for the current revised listing; Red Spy has superseded the parent plant in commercial orchards due to itâs far superior disease resistance.
Click "Observations and you can read various conventions. Not always including another cultivar example though.
There is a lot of room for improvement in their database; but itâs fairly good overall.
Basically if any other apple tastes and performs as another; they treat is as a perfectly good substitute.
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In the age of the internet there is a lot of misinformation, some of it due to sloppy journalism and some due to faulty memories or just people pretending to KNOW what they think, but I just came up with some information that supports your claim. In 1970, N. Spy was still an important commercial variety, at least in some parts of the country, including NYS, and was especially esteemed as a processing apple. At that time, the most widely produced cooking apple was Rome, but there was an important market for N. Spy for the same purpose, even though it is a far more challenging apple to grow.
Thank you for sticking to your guns and inspiring me to search further.
I am surprised that McDonaldâs would pay a premium price for an apple because it provided more flavor, but apparently it did- I donât think you could have misremembered that now that I know it was still being produced commercially at that time.
My mother prepared a dessert for my family every night, usually from scratch, but didnât bake much pie and certainly didnât fry them- she had a degree as a dietician and generally considered fried foods to be unhealthy and something only to provide kids as a rare treat. We also only got potato chips and soft drinks during parties- never as part of regular meals.
McDonaldâs food only became an important part of the U.S. diet in the 60âs, and although its success is a great American story, like many such stories it hasnât exactly created a happy ending for the general public of this country. My mother was right about fried food and Micky Ds has proven it by singlehandedly providing the fuel for our massive epidemic of obesity, and diabetes, while also contributing to heart disease.
But it is a great American story of extreme industrial efficiency that should be taught in our schools if we ever decide to teach our children genuine U.S. history beyond our wars. History of McDonald's - Wikipedia .
About apples produced in 1970.
https://ecommons.cornell.edu/server/api/core/bitstreams/c4cbefe0-abff-4c80-9e73-8a45f92371ac/content
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I was still buying McDonaldâs apple pies until last week. Now I am skipping McDonaldâs altogether as my two cheeseburgers, medium tea and apple pie lunch finally went over $10. Going to go with Hardeeâs $5 meal when on the road instead.
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I am barely middle class, but as long as I can afford it, I will always opt for real food. I am somewhat mystified by U.S. food culture- why should a lunch only cost $5? That requires a lot of people working at poverty wages and the product is of poor quality in terms of nutritional content.
For my work lunch I make over 3 gallon batches of stew at one time with savory bone broth, vegies from my garden, whole barley, legumes (split green peas are a fav), about 5 other whole grains and seeds and just enough smoked and fresh meat to make it perfect for me. Counting shopping and clean up the process takes almost a full day but lasts over a month. I defrost them from the freezer one quart at a time and they are thick enough to make 2 hot lunches which I pour into a thermos after heating in the microwave in the morning before work. Of course this means I canât eat lunch while I drive. If I was in that much of a hurry, Iâd put the whole thing through a blender- yuck!
I donât know if this saves me money, but Iâm 71, still work hard physically for a living, have all my original joints and take no prescription pills as a regular thing and have the same waist size as 35 years ago. Strategies, including how we nourish ourselves work best in the long term if we think long term- American culture doesnât seem to encourage that.
Of course, nothing makes enemies faster than unsolicited advice, but my goal has never been to be well liked. If you think I wrote this out to brag and feel superior, run with it. Nobody can be sure of anyoneâs motives, even their own.
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(Cue the pantomime horse)
âWelcome to our play- the Revenge of the Northern Spyâ! 
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âThe Red Spyâ has a better ring to it, and far better disease resistance!
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Surely Dame McDonald will spot and separate this usurper from the Old Dotard himself!
(Meanwhile, the three French dandies will each stake their claim, while the village scold keeps reminding us to eat more Kale.)
Res ipsa loquitur! 
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Sometimes the village scold is right. Every personality type has been a tool in human survival over our 400,000 year existence and gradual planetary dominance, even our narcissistic psychopaths. or there wouldnât be so many of them spewing from our genetic pool. Village scolds are lovable by comparison and without scolding children do not progress. .
So you can put away your Granny Smiths and Red Delicious if you think you can just whip up McDonaldâs signature dessert at home.
Instead, Mickey Dâs makes their pies with six different types of apples â Jonagold, Fuji, Golden Delicious, Gala, Rome, and Ida Red, all of which are homegrown in the U.S.
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