Apples vs oranges: which are the best, and what does your answer say about your personality?
- As a food columnist, Andrew Sun has a simple question for determining someone’s psychological traits: which would they pick, apples or oranges?
- He comes down on the side of the apple, on the grounds it is easier to eat – including its skin – than an orange that you have to peel and remove the pith from
There are a lot of pseudo-silly personality tests available online. Want to know which Friends cast member you’d be? Ever wonder what house you would be assigned at Hogwarts? Which comic book superhero would your alter-ego be? And, of course, are you more Carrie, Samantha, Miranda or Charlotte?
As a food columnist, I have one simple question for determining one’s psychological traits: apples or oranges – which would you pick?
They are the two most common fruits. But they are so different that it gave rise to an idiom saying you cannot compare one to the other. Oranges encapsulate the summer citrus season, while apples evoke autumn. It’s rather fascinating to hear about people’s preference and their reasons.
In terms of nutritional value, both are very good for you. We’re all well aware what an apple a day is supposed to do. Apples also contain more fibre, which is good for digestion and lowering cholesterol.
However, oranges are great if you’re trying to boost your immune system. They have not only more vitamin C, but also vitamin A and B complex. They also contain more calcium, potassium, magnesium, copper, zinc, phosphorus, selenium, choline and protein. On the other hand, oranges are higher on the glycaemic index if you’re trying to cut down on sugars.
When choosing sides in this debate, few folks actually focus only on health properties.
Oranges taste better and the peels are good for cleaning and taking out grease in pots, pans and worktops.
“Let me begin by saying the skin of the apple is edible but the skin of the orange is not. Boom!”, one online commenter argues on Debate.org (seriously, that is a thing). Talk show host Stephen Colbert has professed to be on team apple by theorising you can eat cheese with apple, but not oranges.
Some of my humorous friends tend to side with the citrus. By their logic, it’s clear I hang out with disturbed people. “Scurvy has always freaked me out since health-ed classes introduced me to that disease when I was wee little,” says one friend.
Another quirky acquaintance went off on a weird tangent claiming a suspect use of the fruit’s skin. “Oranges taste better and the peels are good for cleaning and taking out grease in pots, pans and worktops.”
In spite of such navel gazing, I do feel more people prefer apples, although some are just anti-clementine. “Orange is such a lazy-a** fruit. How can you use the same word for your name, colour and flavour?” they might say.
For people who like to cook, apple is the solid option. You might juice an orange and use the zest as ingredients, but other than in a salad, not many recipes require whole segments of oranges. On the other hand, the glory of apples result in pies, crumbles, crisps, and a sauce that goes great with pork chops.
Apples can also produce awesome ciders. But for serious drinking, orange has Cointreau, Grand Marnier, triple sec and Curaçao.
Personally, I’m an apple person. No offence to oranges, but you are a bit too much work to eat. I just wash an apple and take a chomp out of it, including the nutritionally packed skin. But no matter how carefully I cut and quarter an orange, some juices will leak out.
Peeling the orange makes eating it less messy but I tend to obsessive-compulsively shave away all the pith with my fingers, so it takes more time to eat than the wash-and-go approach of apples.
Further, too much orange makes my mouth acidic, which is not fun for sensitive gums. However, I believe OJ with the pulp is perhaps the all-time great among breakfast juices.
No doubt, this is not an easy decision. It’s really a Sophie’s Choice between apple pie and orange juice.
