New Zealand Eve Apples In House
Written by Austin M., Central Market Produce Inspector on Thursday, August 19 2010
For the past decade or two, New Zealand has dominated the apple scene with some of the most flavorful and interesting varieties; Gala, Braeburn, and Jazz are a few of them. And then something happened: a fluke apple from Minnesota (which is a pretty rough place to grow apples,) the Honeycrisp came through and dominated premium apple markets across the US. Bad news for the Kiwis: it doesn’t grow very well in New Zealand. This year was supposed to mark the first export crop (we booked the first pickings,) and a hailstorm blew in and ruined it all…
So the farmers down there are doing their absolute best to come up with something better. They even hired all of their best marketers to come up with a long list of cute names and color pallets to suit the “experience” of the fruit, which seems to be pretty typical of New Zealand growers. These campaigns have been silly, but the fruit has been quite good.
“Envy”, an apple that just finished up for us, was easily in my top three for 2010. It had incredible balance, rock-hard flesh, and more sugar than any other fruit in the store, which is saying something!
“Eve” is the next in line. Also known as a Mariri Red, this new variety came sprung up from a Braeburn tree, and is promising to be the next big thing.
What else do I know about it? Very little. The growers have been secretive, and I actually found the apple’s parentage off the patent office’s website.
How does it eat? Not half bad! Its’ texture is absolutely perfect with just a bit of sweetness. This is a salad apple if ever there was one.
Has New Zealand beat out the Honeycrisp yet? Nope, or at least not in my opinion; but this is another great variety to try while we wait for America’s best to come off!
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Comments
Claude Parsons on 8.24.2010 at 7:51 PM
Why don't you show fruit jucies on your web site?
We are looking are Dewlands a mixture of pineapple and grapes. I friend said your stores carry it, but I can not find on your site or that matter I can not find any juices.
Rex H., Specialty Foods Buyer on 8.26.2010 at 9:16 AM
Dewlands are currently out of stock for us but may return later in the year.
Chris Sandwick--Pepin Heights on 8.26.2010 at 10:38 AM
A "fluke" apple? Austin, you're breaking my heart.
Austin Moore on 8.26.2010 at 11:07 AM
To my understanding, y'all still haven't figured out where HoneyCrisps came from, sir! Looking forward to your stuff here in a few weeks.