The Stinking Rose

Garlic is the rose I am referring to. Well, it is actually nothing like a rose. Often lumped into a category with onions, shallots, leeks, and chives garlic is actually in the lily family. Know to the biologists as Allium Sativum, this little bulb packs surprising pungency.

The flavor is best described as a hot pungency followed by background sweetness. When raw, the flavor of garlic is strongest and as it is cooked the flavor mellows. The flavor is desirable to many so garlic is often incorporated into bread, infused in oil, or used to accent meat. A myriad of recipes and methods exist for incorporation of garlic so I will shy away from specific recipes for now.

Before the cooking begins, the quality of the ingredients dictate the potential of any recipe. Selecting excellent garlic is not difficult but some attention should be paid to the bulbs at you local grocer. The bulb itself is divided into cloves. These are covered by a filmy dry skin which is easily removed by applying pressure to the bulb. The cloves are then easily separated, but each contains it's own thin film wrapper. The number of cloves varies by variety. The size of individual cloves and the overall bulb will vary by variety as well. Consider the amount of time you will expend to peel the cloves when selecting garlic. Flavor is often best in small cloves, but larger cloves should not be avoided as they pack excellent flavor as well.

A few methods exist to speed the processing time of garlic. Peeling garlic can be tedious, so depending on final use of the garlic three methods are widely used. IF the garlic is to be consumed raw, lay a clove on a flat side. Using the flat blade of a knife, apply pressure to crush the clove. The skin will now easily peel off. If keeping the garlic raw is not important, dropping cloves into boiling water for about 30 seconds is a quick way to loose the skin. Remove them promptly and cool quickly before sliding the skin off. This method retains much of the raw flavor and can be a God send when preparing 40 clove chicken. The last method keeps the entire bulb intact. You start by cutting the top off of all of the cloves as they are still retained in the skin as a single bulb. Next drizzle olive oil over the fresh cut to the cloves and place this bulb in the oven to roast. When fully roasted, the bulb can be squeezed to yield a golden yellow garlic paste. No peeling required.

Now onto the reason for writing about Garlic to begin with. I was making hummus a few nights ago and read a curious passage. "You should wait for a little while after crunching garlic." I had never heard this before so I went on a search for information.

Argentinian researchers reported (in the March 7, 2007 Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry) that crushing garlic releases an enzyme, alliinase, that catalyzes the formation of allicin, which then breaks down to form a variety of heart-healthy organosulfur compounds. So crushed or chopped garlic, they reported, was potentially better for cardiac health than whole cloves.

http://www.drweil.com/drw/u/ART02935/Four-Unexpected-Food-Facts.html

It is also interesting to note that cooking garlic kills these useful enzymes. In fact, only 60 seconds in a microwave can completely destroy them. I am not advocating a raw food diet here, but I do suggest that we use our garlic in raw or close to raw form so we can reap the benefits.

Garlic, like onions, contains compounds that inhibit lipoxygenase and cyclooxygenase, (the enzymes that generate inflammatory prostaglandins and thromboxanes), thus markedly reducing inflammation. These anti-inflammatory compounds along with the vitamin C in garlic, especially fresh garlic, make it useful for helping to protect against severe attacks in some cases of asthma and may also help reduce the pain and inflammation of osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis.

In addition, allicin, one of the sulfur-compounds responsible for garlic's characteristic odor, is a powerful antibacterial and antiviral agent that joins forces with vitamin C to help kill harmful microbes. In research studies, allicin has been shown to be effective not only against common infections like colds, flu, stomach viruses, and Candida yeast, but also against powerful pathogenic microbes including tuberculosis and botulism.

http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=60

I find it fascinating that this common and flavorful bulb has health effects which were long suspected, but are now showing up in scientific studies. It may be a stinking rose, but life would be a little less interesting without Garlic. I would say that I will start putting more of it to use, but I already love garlic and use it frequently. If you have been put off by it in the past, give it another try. It's good for you.

http://fcorpet.free.fr/GaspachoRecipe.html#ail

Ewww

Over the last two days I have been re-exposed to sub par, unhealthy food. Over cooked prime rib, chip dips, Jell-o salads and the like. The after effects have set in. Call me crazy but even my head seems to hurt. I need some real food.

All of this food like product used to be what I ate. My venture into natural foods has been so exciting and invigorating. I know realize just how powerful it has been. It is one thing to change diet and witness effects, but then try to go back and you will see so many more symptoms of poor diet reappear.

I have laced the laced the shoes and picked up the basketball. Last night I picked up a gym membership. It is almost the new year and I refuse to be cliche, or so I am telling myself. I will be one of the few to actually get in shape this year; not that I am so far out of shape right now. I just want to be in better shape.

So I will transcend a grocery establishment today. I need fresh fruit and veggies. I am hungry, for food. My gut is bloated and my kidneys are working overtime. I am looking forward to some simple, elegant, and delicious produce.

On a food note, I received a salt grinder for Christams. This one however has red peppers in teh grinder so it produces a coarse salty spicy mix. If you did not know, I am a big fan of capsaicin.

To put this place in perspective, as I look around I see shasta grape artifically flavored pop, non stick sprays, ritz crackers and fudge. Ewww, I need to get out. This is going to kill me softly just like the song...

Back At It

With a short lapse I have returned. Blame it on the snow or the confinement or just a lack of drive, but I am back now.

I recieved a few new books on food I am itching to get through. The first I have opened drew me in for 20 pages before I could seperate myself to eat breakfast. The book is "Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day" by Jeff Hertzberg and Zoe Francois.

In the past month I have become obsessed with simple breads. By simple I am talking about breads with four inredients: flour, salt, yeast and water. I believe this is the way bread was meant to be made. In this book I am seeing my own ideas confirmed and reinforced.

On page they speak about salt. Using coarse salt will not change the flavor of the bread, but compared to fine salt there is a crucial difference to observe. I found this principal throough trial an error. The fine salt packs more densely than the coarse salt and therefore you should use less fine salt in a recipe.

I still have a ways to go, but there are some simple truths in this book. I love simple and elegent. So far this book is it. On the table are also two other books. One is about cheese making and the other is about yogurt. Those books I will expose at a later time.

For now I am out of town, and my materials and kitchen are not on hand. I am enjoying some food that does not fit into my natural foods criteria, but it is the holidays and I make an exception for family while I am a guest.

My latest thoughts have been down the lines of vegetarianism. With all of the problems inherent in our meat production military industrial complex of this fine nation vegetarian cuisine is starting to seem like an easy way out.

We know understand proper nutrition and meat is not a requirement. With all of the concerns I have it seems like a viable and realistic, and even healthy, option. While on the road I will be doing some research and considering another facet to the the experiments I run on my diet. A vegetarian week is coming.

I enjoy fish, I eat little red meat, and I am disenfranchised with poultry production. Pork comes from an animal that seems too intelligent and closely related to humans. Besides, I was never bacon or pork chop fan to begin with.

So I will muse for a few more days and return with my results. On decision has been made though. It is time to step up the workut routine. Food is excellent, and health is important, but to have a well rounded body mind and soul anyone can recite the fact that excercise is important.

Too many of us avoid it, or pretend like we get enough. I know the time can be tricky to allocate, but I am relatively young and it makes far too much sense not to begin a habit that may extend my life and improve the quality of it.

A Quick Thought

I hate that place [Starbucks]. I heard about a movement to refuse to buy any retail items today. It sounds like the way I already live. I like it.

Bananas Over Bananas

Bananas are a miracle of nature. They are perfectly wrapped, healthy and biodegradable. Moreover, they are delicious. If they are so perfect then why do I feel so guilty every time I eat one?

The problem started years ago when I was a teenager. I learned that the Banana industry really got a boost decades ago when they began to clone the Banana plants. No, this is not a scene from science fiction. I can actually clone a plant in my own backyard now for just a few dollars.

At my local garden store, I discovered growth hormones in a tube. The instruction suggest you simply take a cutting of the desired plant, dip it into the growth hormone—which comes in a test tube—and then put the cutting in dirt. The principal is based on fooling the cutting to grow roots. This is nothing new, as many plant cuttings readily take root even without hormones. Curly willow trees come to mind as a prime example. So we should not be surprised that corporations started cloning banana plants. They almost incessantly struggle to create and maintain homogeneity. In this case that is uniform bananas.

The earliest step taken was to create monoculture; that was, to create plantations. The idea of monoculture is another subject to tackle altogether, but in nature plants rarely grow in any sizable monoculture. Humans implemented it in order to bring efficiency to agriculture. The science that brought cloning to banana trees took monoculture to the next level. Every tree in the plantation could now be genetically identical.

Being identical is a double edged sword. The tree yielding the largest quantity of uniform fruit can be chosen. This is exactly what business wants. In the world of produce, where shelf lives are short and uniformity is not the norm, sellers found a way to fight back. The real problem is that most consumers want the perfectly shaped, brightest, uniform fruit. This is why business seeks it out; again, another topic altogether.

Using technology to create these perfect bananas seemed genius at first, but consider some of the problems with traditional monoculture. Massive amounts of pesticides and fertilizers become necessary. In the case of genetic uniformity, pests and disease become an incredible threat. If one tree becomes plagued by disease it is highly likely that every tree in that plantation will become ill as well. This can be devastating, so chemical are used to ensure their longevity. This work against nature only requires more chemicals and reduces genetic diversity; a problem that may devastate bananas in the future.

While I find this agitating from a point of sustainability and environmental responsibility, I still enjoy bananas. That enjoyment is waning, especially when I consider the second large issue I take with bananas. Most of the bananas we consume make long journeys to get to us. In fact, bananas are native to Southeast Asia and in 2005 India was the largest producer of bananas more than doubling the output in Brazil.

So when I look at this delectable, ingeniously portable and healthy food item, I see foreign workers. Wielding machetes, they cut bunches of green bananas off trees in hot, humid tropical conditions. I have heard rumors that large spiders live in these bunches. It is an eerie notion I have been unable to shake, but also cannot confirm. Next I see these bananas sorted and packaged. Up to this point the work is likely done by people who work likely work for incredibly low wages, by the American standard. Once the boxes are full, I envision a gigantic ocean liner being stacked with refrigerated containers. Once loaded, it starts pumping out pollution from huge stacks connected to giant diesel engines as it traverses the world’s oceans. Upon arrival in the U.S. the infamous truckers speed the bananas to market, along the way consuming oil and producing smog. When the banana gets to my local store, I see a beautiful display of bananas. To my benefit—or so I thought—bananas usually offered for less than a dollar per pound. I know the majority of the cost is to pay for fuel.

When I buy a banana I know I am just contributing to the problem. The fruit has been shipped so far that I am really just paying for transit; the cost of the actual banana is almost negligible. So am I eating petroleum? From the fertilizers to the ship and later to the truck, I am just prolonging the magic. Bananas are a nice and profitable illusion built up by corporate interests. The truth is that bananas are a poor choice for consumers outside tropical regions. Bananas are not a lone problem, but I am giving them up.

I love bananas, and I will miss them, but anything worth doing is worth doing right. It is clear to me that bananas conflict with my beliefs and so I must take a stand. I urge you to stand with me. At least give it some thought.

Bread is a Wonder; Wonderbread is not

It is hard to argue that bread is not three things: delicious, filling, and a staple of life. I, however, would like to take up the issue of its healthfulness. While it has sustained countless people around the world in varying forms, have we had too much of a good thing?

I am not even sure if bread is a good thing anymore. The last time I flipped over a bag of Wonderbread I was puzzled. The ingredients list a short novel written mostly in foreign words. I was able to understand a few of the ingredients, but even they left an odd taste in my mouth. What is corn syrup doing in my bread?

Mentally I had conjured up a recipe for bread based on what I thought bread was supposed to contain. This product, in a fancy, colorfully marketable bag, seems less like bread than I had contemplated before. To me, bread is supposed to contain flour, salt, yeast and water. I am even a bit skeptical when bread contains sugar, but I could let plain sugar pass. Could I be the one who was out of his mind this time?

No. Bread today and bread of the past are two entirely different food items. Well, entirely may be taking it too far, but they have less in common than most of us expect. With the artificial enrichment, emulsifiers, dyes, preservatives and sweeteners it is amazing that this stuff is still allowed to be labeled as bread at all. Most 100% whole wheat breads even contain these “extra” ingredients.

This dilemma sent me on a mission. That was to find a recipe to make real bread. I succeeded and the recipe was posted previously. I have baked a dozen loaves of this bread and have been quite pleased as I weaned myself off of commercially produced breads.

Those commercial breads have some other properties I would like to draw into question. Why is it that “old time bread” rose for a full day and now bread can rise in just two hours? Super yeast strains, sugars, dough conditioners, and yeast supplements have changed how the bread rises. Carve up a slice of artisan bread and compare it Wonderbread if you are not convinced. The Wonderbread is amazingly homogenous and uniform. In fact it is so uniform it is scary.

Artisan bread should be just that, artisan. It made with the human hands and every loaf had its own bit of individual character. The yeast could act differently, or the water content varied slightly. Whatever the reason may be, when you browse a selection of artisan bread at a farmers market or in a fellow food lover’s kitchen, you will appreciate the individuality of each loaf. And that is exciting. That is what bread is about. Not only is it delicious and filling, but it was a product made by a human to be marveled at and enjoyed. In a way the energy used to make the bread set is aside as an astute food item.

So where did it all go. Artisan bread is now a niche market. Many companies make uniform “artisan” loaves that are sold in the marketplace, but to not let them fool you. They need a train car to pull the ingredients list along with them as well. True artisan bread will never be part of corporate America where everything needs to be methodical, uniform and precise. Artisan bread died the day America sold its soul to the corporation.

In what I thought was a stand against “new bread,” I began to avoid the worst of the worst. That is, I avoided plain white Wonderbread type loaves. I picked up 12 grain and whole wheat versions that touted no corn syrup on their labels. My effort was mediocre. These breads were not great. I was making a stand, but it was more like a sit. I was giving in to the giant in a different way.

This entire ordeal did provoke much thought about nutrition in general. I wondered how nutritious bread really is. By using science the bread manufacturers had been able to conquer and control each loaf and produce it at an alarming rate. They must have realized that this bread was lacking nutrition so the created a solution. They reinvented nutrition by injecting the missing nutrients back into the bread. It was perfect. Wonderbread was born, and moms loved it.

The bread is cheap, and the marketing campaign built it into an American icon. Every child in America knows that bread is white and comes in a plastic bag. And their moms loved to spread peanut better and jelly on it for an all American lunch. This is the basis for another post altogether.

I will just hit on one more peculiarity of the bread though. When Wonderbread is smashed in a lunch pail, as can often happen, there is no reflex. It just takes it. If you have never tried smashing Wonderbread I recommend trying. When you squeeze the bread it goes flat into a compressed ball or sheet. There is no resilience. It is most peculiar and alarming, since true artisan bread can be prodded pressed and poked with little damage inflicted. I have dubbed this the sponge property that all breads should posses. It is an easy litmus test for good bread as well.

So as we stuff ourselves on white bread like substances, consider the nutrition. Can all of those added ingredient be good for us? If you had a choice to limit the chemical you consumed why wouldn’t you? Of course you would, but corporate America has kept your mind occupied in others ways in order to prolong the magic. Beyond choice, how much bread should we consume?

With bread now rampantly available in varying forms, it is easy and cheap to acquire. This was not always the case. This often happens when a food item hits mass production. This may not seem like a problem. Stop for a second to consider the number of calories in bread. Most slices contain at least 100. And who eats just one slice anyways. Sandwiches require two. The high calorie content is precisely the reason this food makes such a great staple. Increase the consumption and now you have a problem. In conjunction with a diet marked by ever increasing sugar consumption, Americans are eating far too many calories.

And thus, I conclude that bread is bad. Not on its own merits, but based the adulterations of mad scientists and business moguls. To cope with this obstacle I recommend two things. Eat bread in moderation. Buy artisan bread or, better yet, make it yourself. Together we can restore bread to its past glory.

Raw Was Raw

After less than one full day of raw food I had to step back and reconsider my decision. There is a change in ones mind as hunger sets in. In a way we become less sophisticated animals. The pain of hunger, and the hunt for food to fill the need, alters human judgment.

When the day began I found options like fresh fruit and raw nuts to be exciting. By midday I was choking down raw sprouts and mixed greens. It occurred to me then that sustaining life on raw food would be a challenge.

By seven in the evening I was just plain hungry. I had played basketball and eaten mostly fruit through the afternoon. So I turned to a raw food cookbook and attempted to make a raw substitute for Thai curry. It included squash, cucumber, and cilantro. These shredded vegetables were topped with a sauce of lemon juice, coconut milk, curry paste and garlic. It smelled great. The shredded butternut squash looked like freshly grated cheddar cheese. The flavor was not as noteworthy.

It tasted like a curry dish that someone forgot to cook. I tried to choke down a few fork loads. During my meal I kept thinking this dish would be superb if it was simmered for down for a few minutes.

I gave up early on the meal and began pacing the kitchen. Now I was staring at an earlier concoction of raw peanuts, which too quite some time to shell. I had used a food processor to annihilate raw peanuts, raisins and honey. It was rough gelatinous goo that did not taste all that bad. In the world of raw food, not so bad is synonymous with delicious. Could I spend the rest of my life eating like this?

No. I broke down and sliced into the Jalapeño cheese bread I had made just a day ago. I do not recall a time when bread seemed quite as satisfying. Then the feeling set in. I had failed. The raw food experiment was over.

I was not content to call it a failure. I sat down in my reading chair and pondered the implications and motives for trying to solely eat raw food. There was not the science or support I had found in the natural food movement. Come to think of it, I had failed to read any opposing literature. And I had questioned some of the pro raw food literature that seemed unsubstantiated and confounded too often.

I have by no means thrown out the baby with the bathwater, but I have relieved my desire to eat raw food for the time being. Surprisingly, this is in harmony with one reoccurring statement made by raw food authors. Eat what works for you; listen to your body. I enjoy cooked food. It tastes good, and it works for me.

And some articles that I read after the fact. These are not in favor of raw food.

The Raw Food Diet: A Raw Deal

Does Eating Raw Foods Make Sense In The North?

Raw Food

I did it. Yesterday I shopped until I dropped for fresh and dried produce. Today is day 1 of the experiment to follow a raw food diet. It was pushed into realization by a few books I read over the weekend. They did not convince me, but they made me curious. That along with my current philosophy on food was the breeding ground for an experiment in my food lifestyle.

So I perused recipes, made a list and headed out. I visited produce stands, Asian markets, and even a mainstream grocery store. I stocked up on beans (for sprouting), seeds, fruits and leafy vegetables. The recipes seem less than appetizing in some cases, but I want to find out if “going raw” is for me.

Today started off with fresh fruit for breakfast. Lunch was rounded out with homemade honey mustard dressing over a spinach and mustard green salad. I packed a snack of raw peanut, raw sunflower seed, and sun dried raisins. So now half way through day one this doesn’t seem so difficult after all. Maybe the key is to eat simply. I may hold back on the recipes, as the whole foods seem at least as appetizing at this point.

In a few days we shall see how different sprouts fit my fancy. I started sprouting garbanzo, flax, lentil, and soybean last night. Also, I started a batch of sauerkraut with nothing except water and cabbage. I find this an intriguing recipe as no salt is added. In seven days I will present the results.


So now, I am off to eat my tamarind. These pos are delicious, and had never crossed my palate until yesterday. They are sweet and natural. Also in that category I found dried dates to be a fascinating addition. Who know what I may discover this week. Based on the new exposure, although it is too early to fully asses the diet, I like eating raw foods. It will be left to see whether a lasting relationship ensues.

The Tamarind (Tamarindus indica) (from the Arabic: تمر هندي tamar hindi = Indian date) is a tree in the family Fabaceae. The genus Tamarindus is monotypic (having only a single species). It is a tropical tree, native to tropical Africa[1], including Sudan and parts of the Madagascar dry deciduous forests. It was introduced into India so long ago that it has often been reported as indigenous there, and it was apparently from India that it reached the Persians and the Arabs who called it "tamar hindi" (Indian date, from the date-like appearance of the dried pulp), giving rise to both its common and generic names[2]. However, the specific name, "indica", also perpetuates the illusion of Indian origin. The fruit was well known to the ancient Egyptians and to the Greeks in the 4th Century B.C.E.[1]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tamarind

No Knead Bread, I Need You

Last night I baked three loaves of bread. This was no ordinary bread. It was the greatest bread I have ever made. Well, maybe I am not the greatest baker in the world, but this bread is fantastic and simple.

It was my search for simple bread that led me to this recipe. The bread contains only flour, salt, water and yeast. It takes a about a day to rise and no kneading is necessary. This bread is resilient, light, and wonderful. It can be eaten warm, cold, and with our without condiments such as butter and honey.

This was actually my fourth baking of this recipe so I decided to add a few twists. I prepared three loaves of dough and added some extras to each. In the first I added some pesto I had made previously. The second received a few jalapeños, sliced. And the last, by request, had three diced habaneros added. This request came as a friend has become fond of my bread and has yet to find habanero bread.

All three rose nicely and baked up with an excellent crust; not too hard and not too soft. This is the kind of bread that coerces you to devour an entire loaf if you are not careful, which I have evaluated to contain about 1440 calories. That was simple since I know that there are 120 calories per quarter cup of the unbromated flour I purchase from Bob’s Red Mill.

Anyhow, the jalapeño was the stand out bread of excellence, but all three only opened the door to further want and possibilities. I just cannot get enough of this bread. And it is so simple. You just have to try it and you will understand. Over the holiday weekend I impressed family with such simple delectable bread that, needless to say, goes fast on any occasion.

Get the Recipe

Pomelo?

The Pomelo is a curious fruit; green and waxy like an obese lime. I first encountered this fruit two days ago in a seafood market. I was disappointed since the market did not have the type of fish I was searching for. So I began browsing the other goods in this tiny store dominated by fish tanks and ice. There were a few produce items. Few of which were labeled in English.

This is often the case in non traditional food stores. I often joke about the poor or nonexistent labeling. But in all seriousness, it does make you wonder what you are really getting. When it comes to produce I am not so concerned, but I have on more than one occasion purchased something that I knew nothing about. In this case I didn’t even know the name of the fruit.

When I picked it up I was surprised just how light it was. With a bit of a squeeze I could tell it was spongy. Thinking it might be a citrus fruit I gave it the scratch test. A scratch at the top of the fruit released the unmistakable scent of grapefruit. That seemed promising so I proceeded to purchase one. The woman at the counter was confused by my lone purchase, but was unable to utter words to explain it. I asked if it was good. She looked puzzled and shook her head. Good enough I suppose since it was less than a Dollar.

I gazed up behind her to see a television screen displaying a myriad of cameras. Located on a shelf below it several jars filled with peculiar items rested. The prices were quite high and the labels were mostly not in English. The dried scallops and shark fin were labeled in English and left me wondering. Is it legal to sell shark fin? Obviously it is not a sustainable industry. And what do you do with dried scallop?

Moving on, I now have a fruit that I was able to identify as a Pomelo. I acquired it in my search for real foods that I have never eaten. It is my intention to discover the less cherished foods available, but not widely used in modern American culture. So far I have seen there is immense number of plants that we fail to embrace a whole. And if nothing more, I just want to enjoy the tastes of nature that so many of us have not taken the opportunity to explore.

The pomelo (or Chinese grapefruit, pummelo, pommelo, Lusho Fruit, jabong, shaddock[1]) Citrus maxima (Merr., Burm. f.), also Citrus grandis (L.), is a citrus fruit, usually a pale green to yellow when ripe (but also pink or red), with sweet flesh and very thick spongy rind. It is the largest citrus fruit, ranging from the size of an extra-large grapefruit to the diameter of a basketball,[2] and usually weighing between 1 and 2 kg.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pomelo

Cripps Pink Apple

Yesterday I found you at New Seasons Market. You were there with about 100 of your closest of kin. Your color was a reddish pink with hints of green. When I held you in my had youe texture was peculiar. It was as if I was handling a pomegranite. It was not the smooth skin I have come to expect from your realtives. I was assured that this is your normal characteristic.

I purchased you in search of something crisp and sweet with a tart edge. You delivered. I did find your skin thick and your flesh leaving more juice to be desired. Organic and a product of the USA you were. Now, you are reduced to a core and I am left wondering if there is another better than you I may find. That is to say, you weren't bad, but I am not in love with you. We had a casual encounter which may or may not occur once again. Either way, I got what I wanted.

As I now hear, you are a second rate Pink Lady apple. I am not overly surprised. You could have been prettier and tastier, but you weren't that bad. We didn't have much in common short of desire. Cripps Pink, take care of yourself.


Cripps Pink is a cultivar variety of apple widely available in the Northern Hemisphere. It was originally produced by Apple and Pear Australia Limited by crossing the Australian apple Lady Williams with a Golden Delicious in order to combine the best features of both apples. The company sells the highest quality grade of the apple under the trademark of Pink Lady. The apple has a distinctive pink "blush" mixed with a green "background" and has a firm crisp texture with a sweet-tart taste. Storage life is very long, so availability is not markedly seasonal.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cripps_Pink