yeah, the most hyped cuisine is by and large inferior to home cooked by skilled and loving hands with fresh home grown stuff.
My 5 yr old son has anaphylaxis to dairy, so we practically never go out anymore. When we do, Im usually pretty disappointed for the most part.
It is true that you can get practically anything in NYC, but that doesnt mean its going to be great quality.
It is also a matter of the difference between a custom made meal and something that is âoff the rackâ, reflecting perhaps the specific tastes of the chef rather than catering to your own. What tastes good is always subjective to a certain degree and the ability to cook well doesnât make your taste in food universal.
I have never had a pie anywhere better than my own. I have also never had a Tart Tatin better than the one my Mom makes with Calville Blancs.
It doesnât take education at culinary school to learn about the best fruit to use in cooking or pastry making.
It takes caring. You have to take care. You have to seek out the best. You have to talk with people serious about fruit and visit their orchards.
I was the production manager at Zingermanâs Bakehouse in Ann Arbor for about 10 years. We only made apple pie when good apples were in season up until about New Years. We bought from local orchards. Once Northern Spy was in season that was our go to.
I make a sort of relish out of friend onions and apples. My daughter had it the other night, and commented that she liked it, with a heavy hint of âI wish youâd do this more oftenâ. I told her I can only make it when I have good, firm, in-season apples.
A lot of people like Granny Smith for pie, only reason I did not buy a Granny Smith tree is I can get those apples at any grocery store.
I ordered Belle de Boskoop and Calville Blanc dâ Hiver for pies but have since heard some of the other apples I picked would also make good pie choices.
If I ever get any apples, I will try different ones for pies and crisps, maybe then I will have an opinion.
This is great Mark and thank you. This recipe is a keeper as is Citymanâs recipe. We should move it to fruit in the kitchen. Itâs a keeper!
Excellent point.
Granny is hard to raise hereâŚrots.
So, forget Granny if youâre going the organic route.
Same. And as Alan points out, thatâs largely because i make pies to my tastes. I like less sugar, and also a higher ratio of fruit to crust than most people. I like flavor of the all-butter crust. Heck, i like the apples i choose to use more than apples other people choose to use.
Other people like my pies, too. But i would guess that other people sometimes prefer other things, and wouldnât say that mine are the best pies theyâve had.
I did not know Granny was hard to raise. Good to know, thanks!
I think I know what watercore is, have not seen it in person but I have seen pictures and it looks like it sounds. Does it ruin texture and/or taste?
What is the ârotsâ? And the other apple growing problems people mention?
Here in NY it is one variety I know to be almost immune to Marsonnina leaf blotch, which seems to be the Holy Grail of low spray apple production here these days. A couple of spring sprays tend to hold back everything else but MLB requires a couple of extra summer sprays not needed before it came to town, doubling the minimum number of sprays almost over night. Sucks. .
I should have said I never had a pie from any commercial bakery or restaurant that I liked better than my own. My Mother, Grandmother and Sister all make great pie and I think I enjoy all 3 of theirs even better than my own because itâs always interesting to enjoy the differences.
I also like Rhode Island Greening for pies. I donât grow it myself but Lutz orchard down the road does. They are out of business now though. I have a fried who is considering buying the orchard so I may be able to get them again.
Iâm no expert, but perhaps some of those really tart English Sauce apples would be good mixed in a pie.
Excellent synopsis.
I just put in a R.I. Greening just for that reason- apple pies.
I realize things perform different in varying locations. But, GS has given me the least return on investment of any of my older apple trees. I think even Anoka gave me more, and it just died after 33 yearsâŚbut every other year had a bunch of sour small striped apples drop in June and if you picked them for eating or a pieâŚyou had maybe 36 hours before they turned to mealy. Even that tree gave me more benefit in 33 years than my Granny.
Iâve never had one of thoseâŚbut hear theyâre good cooking apples.
I have Northwest Greening I hope covers that base.
And as Alan mentioned the Granny Smith does keep good looking foliageâŚexcept for a little mildew. But fruit rots before ever ripe.
I donât doubt your experience, but I didnât want growers further north of you to think Granny is a difficult apple to grow- In my region it is one of the easiest ones and is commonly grown by people who know little about growing fruit- often with success.
I think I gained 5 lbs making apple crisps this month. Free apples
GS also has a beautiful and fragrant blossom!