McIntosh (apple)

The McIntosh ( MAK-in-tosh), McIntosh Red, or colloquially the Mac, is a cultivated variety of apple, considered to be the national apple of Canada. The fruit has red and green skin, a tart flavor, and tender white flesh, which ripens in late September. An all-purpose apple, the McIntosh may be eaten raw, baked, cooked, or used to make apple cider and apple sauce. John McIntosh discovered the original McIntosh sapling on his Dundela farm in Upper Canada in 1811. He and his wife cultivated it, and the family started grafting the tree and selling the fruit in 1835. In 1870, it entered commercial production, and became common in Ontario, Quebec, New England, and New York after 1900. While still produced in large quantities, the fruit's popularity fell in the early 21st century in the face of competition from newer varieties such as the Ambrosia, Gala, and Honeycrisp. Jef Raskin, an employee at Apple Computer, named the Macintosh computer line—later abbreviated to "Mac" in 1999—after the cultivar.