'Crisp and juicy' the key qualities that Windsor-Essex apple-eaters want

The people living in Windsor-Essex are passionate about the kinds of apples they like to eat.

That's what we found out when we asked our audience about their apple preferences on Facebook last week.

Dozens of people chimed in to tell us which apples were good and which ones were not.

We reached out to a local apple expert to find out what people generally like when it comes to apples in Windsor-Essex.

Leslie Huffman Balsillie, whose family owns the well-known Fruit Wagon in Harrow, said there are two basic things that her customers want in an apple.

"They all have to be crisp and juicy," she told CBC Radio's Windsor Morning on Monday.

But she said there is no single apple that dominates public tastes.

"They like all sorts of different apples," said Huffman Balsillie.

Huffman Balsillie also spoke about the somewhat-detested Red Delicious apple, which she acknowledged is not as good as it used to be.

"The original ones were delicious, they were outstandingly sweet for the apples of that time," she said, noting that the variety dates back more than a century.

But Huffman Balsillie said that since then, "the consuming public wanted redder and redder and redder apples and you kind of lose that really wonderful flavour when you get this beautiful-looking apple."

To hear the full interview, including more details on the history of the red delicious apple, follow this link.