Late Winter Sustenance: Traditionally, we would be down to our last few mouldy apples in the cellar at this point of winter, desperately waiting for spring and early signs of life. Funnily, though, even as we have such a great choice of fruit from around the world, the allure of apples and pears still seems appropriate at this time of year. Fortunately, with the latest storage techniques and a flood of new varieties, we have marvellous choice in the various retailers and grocers which will last a few more weeks.
FOR MY FRUITBOWL, I WOULD BUY
- Apples: Rubens, Envy and Daliclass from UK;
- Pears: Abaté Fétèl, Comice, Migo and Rocha;
- Mandarins: Orri from Spain;
- Oranges: Tarocco from Italy;
- Lychee: From Southern Africa;
- Figs: Various varieties from South Africa;
- Plums: Mid-season sweetness from South Africa.
Apples: Such is the choice of apples in large supermarkets that it is easy to forget that many consumers have no access to a large store. Smaller stores obviously have restricted ranges which, with apples, often means a choice of Cox, Gala, Golden, Granny Smith, Braeburn and Pink Lady, if you are lucky. However, every retailer has a number of favourite and tasty alternatives, one of which may creep into the small store range. Look out for:
- Asda: Rubens, Honeycrisp;
- Lidl: Rubens;
- M&S: Envy, Daliclass, Opal;
- Morrisons: Smitten;
- Sainsbury’s: Kanzi, Envy;
- Tesco: Rubens, Kanzi, Empire, Opal;
- Waitrose: Smitten, Envy, Daliclass, Opal.
Pears: Good Fruit Guides’ best varieties on sale continue to be Abaté Fétèl (Asda, Lidl, Waitrose), Comice (and Sweet Sensation, a red Comice) and Rocha. Migo in Sainsburys is nice: light in texture. Some interesting alternatives have popped up in M&S and Waitrose: Gepa pear and Queen Forelle, respectively. These are both recent varieties and worth trying to explore their unique attributes.
Mandarins: The late mandarins are coming into their own as their fresh acidity is diminishing to release the full depth of flavour. Best of the options is the delicious Orri from Spain and Israel, often sold as a tangerine. Nadorcott or Tangold are more or less the same and are great varieties through to April.
Fans of Minneola Tangelo will only find them in Tesco, from Israel. Other mandarins of note are various delicious varieties from Sicily, e.g. Mandared and Etna, most likely to be seen in Lidl or M&S.
Queen satsuma, a very late natural satsuma hybrid, is available in Morrisons, Sainsburys and Waitrose, though has very little resemblance to a satsuma and offers limited variation on late clementines.
Moroccan Nour and Spanish Clemenvilla are also still on sale in odd places but must be well and truly at the end of their season by now.
Oranges: Italian Tarocco and Spanish Navels are in their prime with a lovely acid balance that brings the best out of these sublime varieties. Tarocco blood oranges are rarely beaten in the flavour / texture stakes but are not so easy to find (seen in Asda and M&S, often in Tesco and Waitrose).
The first Egyptian Valencia Late’s have been spotted in Tesco, in the same packaging as Navels. These are very different varieties with the latter being better eating oranges by a country mile. A number of stores are also selling Spanish Salustiana, often as a value or juicing orange. These are a ‘blond’ orange with high juice content and a mild eating quality: great for juicing (seen in Aldi, Asda and Waitrose).
Waitrose seems to be the only retailer still selling Seville oranges for homemade marmalade (see the website for recipes, Nigel Slater’s being the simplest).
Figs: South African figs are now dominating the market. They are quite expensive (cheapest at about 50p per fruit), but seriously indulgent when at the right maturity. There are baby figs, Ronde de Bordeaux, in Asda: such a treat; plus three very similar black varieties in other retailers – Evita, Parisian and Tangier. At these prices, it is unjust to find one or two in a pack to be under-mature and therefore quite tasteless: before buying ,check carefully for good, even dark colouration of the three black fig varieties.
Lychee: The lychee season from southern Africa continues to offer one of the best taste experiences (cheapest In Aldi at £4.25/kg equivalent).
Plums: Plums from South Africa are in mid-late season with some excellent varieties on sale. Look out for FlavorKing, Plumred VI, Midnight Gold and BlackRed as the most tasty. Of ripen-at-home plums, the main option is Fortune, soon to be joined by Laetitia. Both should give decent success if you are patient and leave them to soften in the fruit bowl.
Peaches & Nectarines: The South African season is still going strong and good mid-late varieties are on sale: a safe bet for flavour and juiciness.
Grapes: There are numerous South African grapes on sale, particularly of red types. All these are a mixture of established and newer varieties and anyone is forgiven for being confused. This has not been a stellar season for eating quality with a lot of variation, but stand-out varieties remain pretty much constant:
- Black: Sable, Melody, Vitoria (Brazilian);
- Red: Sweet Celebration, Jack’s Salute;
- Green: Thompson, Sugraone, both only when milky/pale yellow in colour.
Grapefruit: The best grapefruit are mild, juicy, sweet Florida Pink (all main supermarket chains); Sunrise from Israel, and, particularly if you don’t like bitterness, Sweetie from Israel (in M&S, Sainsburys).
Persimmons: Spanish Rojo Brilliante and Triumph continue to be available. At this stage, the best for sweetness and flavour is the flat-shaped Sharonfruit / Triumph (Spain, Israel).
Mangoes: Peruvian Kent is the only choice of mango at the moment.
Blueberries: The Moroccan blueberry season is just underway (seen in M&S), but the vast majority are still coming from late season Chile. There is some softness creeping into the fruit from some retailers which can’t be seen. It’s a pity as there are also some great quality blueberries on sale: it’s worth avoiding cheaper options, so pay more for crisp and sweet.
Strawberries: Retailers are trying to improve flavour and sweetness of early Spanish and Moroccan strawberries with new varieties such as Inspire, Driscoll Marquis, Driscoll Lusa, and Viva Isabella. Success is not guaranteed, but there is definite improvement. Pretty much all the standard and value strawberries will need help (sugar, alcohol) to bring out any flavour.
Melons: All melons are from Brazil, Honduras or Costa Rica and are a bit of a lottery in the quest for flavour. Perhaps the most reliable option at the moment is in Tesco: look out for Sweet Snowball, an Ivory Gaya melon with good sweetness.
©Good Fruit Guide 2019. Recommendations on fruit varieties and types with the very best taste are personal to the editor of Good Fruit Guide, and do not attempt to be exhaustive or supported by verifiable consumer research. The highlighting of fruit with the very best taste in the opinion of the editor is not intended as a judgement on the taste of varieties and types of fruit not mentioned.