Red apple.

A good red apple feels heavy for its size, with tight, shiny skin and no soft spots. Bite into one and the white flesh should crunch and run with juice. Most red apples lean sweet, with a mild tartness in the background. They travel well, which is why one so often ends up in a bag or a lunch box.

Ways to use it

• Eat it whole with the skin on, or cut it into wedges around the core.
• Slice thinly into a salad with cabbage, nuts and a light dressing.
• Grate it into pancake batter or a bowl of oats.
• Bake or stew peeled pieces with a little cinnamon until soft.
• Cook it down into a smooth, unsweetened apple sauce.

Storing it

Apples keep best close to 0 degrees Celsius, so the fridge is the right place, and they last far longer there than in a fruit bowl. Ripening apples give off ethylene, a gas that speeds up ripening, so keep them in their own drawer away from fruit you'd like to stay firm. Cut apple turns brown quickly. A few minutes in water with a squeeze of lemon slows that down. Wash the skin under running water before you eat or cut it.

Where it comes from

Grown to certified organic standards. The certificate for each lot is shown when you trace your pack.

Every pack will carry a lot code. Enter it on the Trace your pack page and you will see the farms in that lot, the harvest or packing date and the certificate.