Ambrosia Apples
(Scientific Binomial Name: Malus domestica)Ambrosia means "Food of the Gods" and this sweet & juicy apple is aptly named!
The Ambrosia apple is a bi-colored apple with pink blush against a field of creamy yellow. The flesh is also creamy, and very juicy and sweet. It?s a very sweet apple and best eaten fresh rather than cooked.
Selection Information
Usage: The Ambrosia apple ? with its sweet flavor and juicy flesh - lends itself best to eating out of hand, juicing or sliced in salads. It is a sweet, low-acid apple with a fairly sweet and strong aroma and crisp flesh at harvest.
Selection & Storage: Good-quality Ambrosiaapples will be firm with smooth, clean skin and have an almost fluorescent pink skin over a creamy yellow background. Test the firmness of the apple by holding it in the palm of your hand. (Do not push with your thumb). It should feel solid and heavy, not soft and light.
To store, keep apples as cold as possible in the refrigerator. Apples do not freeze until the temperature drops to 28.5 degrees F. This apple does not store well in controlled atmosphere, so enjoy it from harvest starting in September through February at the latest.
Avoid: Avoid product with soft or dark spots. Also if the apple skin wrinkles when you rub your thumb across it, the apple has probably been in cold storage too long or has not been kept cool.
Seasonal Information
In the Northern Hemisphere, harvest starts in September & controlled atmosphere storage will allow you to enjoy the Ambrosia until February ? or about four months after harvest.
Ambrosia Apple Nutritional Information
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Apples are very low in Saturated Fat, Cholesterol and Sodium. They're also a good source of Dietary Fiber and Vitamin C.
Apple Tips & Trivia
- In the early 1990s, the Mennell family of B.C.'s Similkameen Valley discovered a tree in their orchard that had been replanted with Jonagold trees in an area that had previously contained Red and Golden Delicious trees. As is sometimes the case with new apple varieties, a chance seedling grew. Even though its fruit was less ?attractive? by most standards at the time (given its bi-color skin), the fruit was picked clean from the tree by the pickers. The best apples sell themselves through taste ? and the Ambrosia was a perfect example of people voting with their palette. Once the existing tree had matured, the growers cut and grafted a few branches into other trees.
- Rub cut apples with lemon juice to keep slices and wedges creamy white for hours.
- Store apples in a plastic bag in the refrigerator away from strong-odored foods such as cabbage or onions to prevent flavor transfer.
- Apples are the second most important of all fruits sold in the supermarket, ranking next to bananas.
- Tens of thousands of varieties of apples are grown worldwide
- The history of apple consumption dates from Stone Age cultivation in areas we now know as Austria and Switzerland.
- In ancient Greece, tossing an apple to a girl was a traditional proposal of marriage; catching it was acceptance
- Folk hero Johnny Appleseed (John Chapman) did indeed spread the cultivation of apples in the United States. He knew enough about apples, however, so that he did not distribute seeds, because apples do not grow true from seeds. Instead, he established nurseries in Pennsylvania and Ohio.
- Three medium-sized apples weigh approximately one pound.
- One pound of apples, cored and sliced, measures about 4 1/2 cups.
- Purchase about 2 pounds of whole apples for a 9-inch pie.
- One large apple, cored and processed through a food grinder or processor, makes about 1 cup of ground apple.
Suggested Reading About Apples from Amazon.com:
- The Best Apples to Buy and Grow
- The New Book of Apples: The Definitive Guide to Over 2,000 Varieties
- Apples
- How apples are grown, stored, and used
- The Apple Orchard Cookbook
