Originally Posted by
CDTraveler
Rather a harsh statement, and utterly untrue. However, most of the best California apples are only sold through local outlets, such as farmer's markets or direct from farm stands, so California apples shipped out of state may only be the second rate ones.
However, California grown Pippins are definitely the best - too harsh a winter, and they don't do well at all.
And really, is there an apple nastier than the poor, abused Red Delicious from Washington state that spend months in storage, and hit the supermarkets about March? Mushy, grainy and tasteless.
I live in apple country (on the border of Oregon and Washington), and although we have good apples here, I certainly do miss those California Newtown Pippins (the Oregon Pippins just don't cut it for some reason). Speaking of apple products, New Jersey has some of the best fresh, unfiltered cider I've ever tasted in West Essex County. I will say this for Oregon - our strawberries are much smaller than the mega-berries out of California, but the Oregon strawberries excel in flavor! We think of blackberries as weeds up here - everywhere you look.