Mela Val di Non

Golden Delicious has green-to-yellow skin and crisp, juicy flesh with a balance of sweetness and acidity. It is a useful starting point for fruit salad or sliced apple alongside cheese.

Red Delicious has red skin, five lobes at the base and sweet, juicy flesh without a sharp bite. Choose it when you want a sweet apple to eat raw; slices with speck make a simple savoury pairing.

Renetta Canada is less about crispness: its rough, russeted skin encloses softer flesh with a sweet-sour character. It is well suited to apple cakes and strudel. A firmer autumn or winter Renetta differs from a softer, sweeter apple later in storage, so taste the fruit before choosing how to use it.

Look for Mela Val di Non DOP and the variety on the label. Melinda’s range extends beyond the three protected varieties, so the brand alone does not identify a DOP apple. Choose the variety for the dish you have in mind, then inspect the individual fruit rather than treating the protected name as a promise of one flavour.

Keep apples away from direct sun and heaters, and check stored fruit regularly for spoilage. In a warm kitchen, refrigerate Golden Delicious in the vegetable drawer rather than leaving the whole bag on the counter. Renetta naturally becomes less crisp with maturity; a rough skin alone is not a reason to reject that variety.