Honeycrisp

Know this

Look for yellow showing through the red rather than solid red, and skin with no soft brown dents. A Honeycrisp bruises under the weight of other Honeycrisps, so take them off a tray and not out of the bottom of a bin. It was bred at the University of Minnesota, designated MN1711 in 1974, and nearly discarded before it was finally released in 1991. Nothing about it was built for the supply chain: it bruises, the flavour fades in storage, roughly a quarter of a harvest comes down with bitter pit, and a good yield is about 60 percent where other varieties do far better. Chef secret: the crunch is mechanical, not magic. Its cells are larger than most apples and they rupture rather than splitting along the cell walls, which is why it floods your mouth instead of just breaking.

Cook

Eat it raw and cold. The juice that makes it worth the money is the same juice that waterlogs a pie, so bake with a Northern Spy or a Granny Smith and keep these for the plate. Shaved thin into a salad with something sharp is where it earns its keep.

Season

Picked September into October, and worth buying early because the flavour fades after a long spell in storage.

Best pairings

cheddar · walnut · celery · fennel · radicchio · cider vinegar

Also worth trying: blue cheese, pork, cabbage, mustard, thyme, maple, hazelnut, honey.

Recommended wine