Rome Beauty is a popular American good cooking apple, which retains its shape when cooked.  It can also be eaten fresh, but this is THE apple for cooking with. Rome Beauty is of the few heirloom US varieties that is now widely-grown outside the USA - it can be found in many of the warmer apple-growing regions. Unlike most apple varieties, it has a very low chilling requirement which means it can be grown in areas which do not have cold winters.