How does the Ambrosia apple taste? An introduction to this quality variety and its place of origin
The Ambrosia apple is a highly attractive medium-sized apple, with pinkish orange/red coloring over a yellow background. As such, it fits very well with modern preferences for “bicolored” apples.
The flavor is pleasant and sweet, but the flavor is one-dimensional with no acidity to balance the sweetness - which of course is not necessarily a bad thing. The texture is basically crisp, but not as crisp or hard as Braeburn or Jazz - it is more like the slightly soft crunch you might find in Golden Delicious. Ambrosia benefits from being kept refrigerated and eaten from the fridge, because once it is left in a fruit bowl the crunchiness quickly disappears, at which point it becomes slightly pear-like. If you wanted to punch up the Ambrosia apple, it would be best to treat it as a red/orange Golden Delicious with a less sweet flavor. Of course, anyone who likes Golden Delicious but wants something a little different will enjoy the Ambrosia apple.
The Ambrosia apple originated in western Canada, and as with most modern varieties, production and quality are strictly controlled by the brand owner in western Canada, PICO (Okanagan Plant Improvement Company). New plantings are also being established in Washington State in the United States and the Piedmont region of Italy. Although Canada is generally considered a cold-climate region, the Similkameen and Okanagan valleys of southern British Columbia are semi-arid, and apples are grown alongside grapevines and other warm-climate crops.
The Ambrosia apple is unlikely to be available for private use, but when planted in commercial orchards, the best rootstock appears to be M26 rather than the more common M9.
Unlike most other modern varieties, Ambrosia is not the result of a long-term scientific breeding program, but instead arose in the old-fashioned natural way as a chance seedling in an orchard. Wilfrid and Sally Mennell discovered Ambrosia in an orchard of Jonagold trees in the Similkameen Valley of British Columbia in western Canada. As a result, the parentage is unknown, but it appears to be a cross between Jonagold and Golden Delicious, which had previously been grown in the same area. In terms of flavor and appearance, the Ambrosia apple is almost exactly what you might expect such a cross to look like, with its flavor coming very much from the golden side of the mix (remember that Golden Delicious is also one of Jonagold's parents), but its visual appearance strongly influenced by Jonathan.
