Week 43, 2015
22nd October, 2015
Four Fruit with Fabulous Flavour:
- Pears – Concorde, Abaté Fétel and Comice
- New season English apples – Rubens, Zari, Egremont Russett, Gala
- Grapes – Sable from Brazil
- Mangoes – Spanish Osteen
Apples: Around fifteen different apple varieties from England are in supermarkets, so the choice is fantastic. My pick are Rubens (in Tesco), Zari (in Sainsburys), the lovely nutty Egremont Russet, and Royal Gala, a crisp, sweet and plentiful apple.
Pears: The delicious Concorde (in M&S, Tesco & Waitrose), English Comice (most stores), and the fragrant Abaté Fétel from Italy (Lidl & Sainsbury) make-up a trio of wonderful pears.
Grapes: Delicious Sable from Brazil (M&S, Sainsburys & Waitrose) is the best grape on sale. Other varieties from Brazil will start to be sold as European stocks dwindle. Morrisons are selling Californian rather than Brazilian grapes, which should offer a decent eating experience, if not the most visually fresh appearance.
Mangoes: The Spanish mango, Osteen, is the best option (sold in Asda, Sainsburys & Tesco), as the main supplies are Keitt from Brazil.
Other News:
- Spanish Owari Satsumas are now starting to appear which should be sweet and juicy.
- The first Turkish Satsumas have been spotted in Asda, perhaps a bit early!
- For the purest, Australian Pink Lady apples have made an appearance in Tesco: this is the ‘original’ as the variety was bred in Western Australia by Prof. Cripps (hence the common name for the variety being Cripps Pink).
- Take note that Braeburn apples are now predominantly from France, though some from Italy and Slovenia can be found in Tesco or Waitrose.
- Ever had Aronia berries? Tesco are selling these in selected large stores from Scotland: these are for the adventurous, but could be worth exploring!
- English Kiwiberries are still available in Tesco, Waitrose and various independent stores: a nice change from other small berries, and home-grown.
©Good Fruit Guide. 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.