You've finally made an apple pie and the apples turned to sauce! You put them in a salad and they turned brown. You decided to make applesauce, but the apples wouldn't soften properly. What happened?
In each case, the apples were the wrong type for the dish. Here is a guide to cooking with the many apple varieties available:
FOR BAKING AND FRYING
Spys: a large red, striped apple with yellowish, firm flesh. It is tart and juicy and it holds its shape when baked.
Golden Delicious: a greenish, yellow apple with a slightly sweet taste that needs a spike of lemon juice when used for baking. It holds its shape well.
Granny Smith: an apple not grown in Canada because it needs a longer growing season. This green apple with its crisp, white flesh and tart taste is an excellent choice for baking when other apples are not available.
FOR SAUCE, CAKES AND SOUPS
Royal Gala: a sweet and slightly soft apple. I like it for soups and puréed sauces.
McIntosh: a medium-sized, bright red apple with slashes of green. Its white flesh is juicy, crisp and sweet. It makes excellent apple sauce and is my favourite for apple cake.
Mutsu (or Crispin): a large, green or yellow apple with dense flesh and a juicy, slightly tart taste. It makes a tart, soft applesauce.
Empire: a cross between the McIntosh and Red Delicious, this crisp, firm and sweet apple makes good sauce and soups.
FOR SALADS
Cortland: These crisp, sweet apples stay white when sliced, which makes them the apple of choice for salads.
Fuji: a crisp, supersweet and tasty apple. Eat it out of hand or use in salads.
Lucy Waverman