Apples to apples

• KAT ROBINSON
• GOLD & BLACK: Opals and Blackapples

• KAT ROBINSON

The end of the season has just about come for our beloved Arkansas Blackapples. Our state’s finest arrive at fruit stands and the occasional local grocer in the fall and we scoop up what we can. But by February the honeymoon is over. Only the most carefully preserved last this long with their firm, sweet and starchy flesh — and here at Chez Robinson they are bound for bread and pie (though I did sneak one into the oven with a little cinnamon and nutmeg this afternoon… yum).

I was sent a box of apples today — a box of strange, strongly bronze beauties from Washington State. They’re a new breed of apple I’ve never encountered before called Opal. They’re like a Honeycrisp or Golden Delicious but slightly sweeter — and they don’t brown hardy at all. I think these apples are going to be eatin’ apples — chances are they’re not going to make it to the oven in any sort of application. They taste like spring — very sweet-tart and really crisp. I’m digging on them.

How about you? What sort of apples do you like? Is there a particular best apple for eating, baking and whatnot?