Fruit

Fruit / Smart Kitchen News — 5 Comments
8
Feb 11

Opal Apple Of My Eye

an opal apple

An Opal Apple

I learned something new from Dak, again, today. Apparently, there is a new type apple being grown that is worthy of praise from no less a critic than Dak. Generous soul that he is, he not only bragged about the new apple but brought one by the “office.”

It was a welcome break to learn more about a new fruit and to use the natural desert light for an outdoors picture. The Opal Apple looked big and husky, like a new kid on the block, with that kind of insouciance. Naturally, one must judge a fruit by flavor and crunch. Out came the knives.

The Interior of an Opal Apple

The Firm, Golden Interior of an Opal Apple

I was very pleased with this golden variety of newcomer. It was not mushy like a Golden Delicous Apple often can be, but firm without being too resistant and had a great mouth feel. The bite reminded me of the Granny Smith, without the sharper bites of the green skin, but the taste was almost a cross between a Pippin Apple and a Pear (without the pear texture.) It was also aromatic and enjoyable. In fact, the biggest naysayer (who knows who they are) about the Opal, ended up eating most of the fruit, without eating any of their negative words. The irony was palpable.

If you are a curious eater, working on building your palette (as we like to do here at Smart Kitchen) go find yourself an Opal Apple and weigh in on the discussion.

P Chef

Smart Kitchen.com – The Smartest Way to Learn to Cook™

Fruit — 1 Comment
10
Nov 10

Kiwi threatened by Pee-Wee Bacteria

The Vitamin C Laden Kiwi

New Zealand’s $959 million Kiwi crop is at risk from a tiny disease causing bacteria (pseudomonas syringae) according to New Zealand’s Bio-Security Agency.

The fruiting kiwi vine (Actinidia deliciosa), large, woody, and deciduous, native to the Yangtze Valley of China was first brought to New Zealand in 1906 but significant commercial planting did not begin until around 1940. The fruit, named Chinese Gooseberry at the time, was slow to catch on and by 1970 only 900 acres of Chinese Gooseberries were under cultivation in New Zealand.

The real spur to growth came from Ziel & Co of San Francisco which developed commercial planting in California in the late 1960s. They began with 50 acres in 1970, and sparked significant cultivation growth in California, to more than 8,000 acres by 1988 according to the University of California Cooperative Extension Program’s estimate by changing the name to the more appetizing Kiwi Fruit in 1974. With the domestic push, and the name change our domestic crop & New Zealand’s crop expanded to its current almost $1 Billion size.

US kiwi fruit production has been in decline since the 1990s for a number of reasons but the threatened New Zealand crop (2.5% of the countries whole exports) should not eliminate the tart, Vitamin C laden fruit from our presentations. According to the California Kiwi Fruit Commission we still have over 4,000 acres in kiwi production.

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