Pear

Summary

Pear are sweet juicy yellow or green fruit with a rounded shape that becomes narrower towards the stalk. There are over 3,000 known pear varieties grown around the world.

Contents

Pears are picked when they are almost ripe. The fruit has to come off if you lift the fruit vertically. The late races can be kept for months at a dark place. Pears ripen best at room temperature. If you want too keep them a few days you have to keep them in a dark and cold place. Normal pears are mostly eaten raw and taste great in desserts, the small cooking pears are always cooked and eaten as a vegetable or dessert and quinces are mostly processed to a kind of marmelade.

If you are faced with a bunch of hard pears, follow this easy 1, 2, 3 process to get your pears to their ripe and juicy perfection.

Place hard pears in a paper bag or a covered fruit bowl, leave at room temperature.

Every day, "Check the Neck for Ripeness"™. To do this, apply gentle pressure to the stem end of the pear with your thumb. When it yields to the pressure, it's ready to eat (this process usually takes a few days).

Enjoy your ripe, juicy pears now, or store them in the fridge until you're ready to use them. The fridge will slow down the ripening process, but won't stop it. Ready to eat pears will stay fresh in the fridge for between 3-5 days.

Yellow Bartlett (BART-let)
Available: August through January
Ripens to bright yellow. Aromatic, perfect for fresh eating. Very sweet and juicy. Excellent for canning or cooking.

Red Bartlett and Starkrimson (BART-let, star-KRIM-son)
Available: August through January
Bright red skin when fully ripe. Similar flavor,texture and use as yellow Bartletts.

Green Anjou (ON-ju)
Available: October through June
Abundant juice and sweet flavor when ripe.They do not change color as they ripen.

Red Anjou (ON-ju)
Available: October through May
Much the same flavor and texture as green Anjous. Remains maroon red when ripe.

Bosc (BAHSK)
Available: September through April
Highly aromatic flavorful pear. Dense flesh makes it ideal for baking and cooking. They are brown and often russeted. They do not change color as they ripen.

Comice (Co-MEESE)
Available: September through February
One of the sweetest, juiciest varieties, and often are very large. An elegant dessert pear that's excellent with cheese. Almost no color change when ripe.

Concorde (CON-kord)
Available: September through January
Known for its tall, elongated neck and firm, dense flesh. Skin is a beautiful golden green and oftentimes has golden yellow russeting in spots. Has a vanilla-sweet flavor and firm texture that holds up well when baking, grilling, or poaching. Shows little color change during ripening.


Seckel (SEK’L)
Available: September through February
Tiny pears with ultra-sweet flavor, maroon and olive green in color. Excellent choice for children's snacks, pickling, or as a garnish. No color change when ripened.

Forelle (For-ell)
Available: September through February
A smaller variety. Turns bright yellow with crimson freckling when ripe. Sweet, very juicy.

Pears are original from Europe and Asia. The first cultivated races were selected from the wild varieties in the prehistoric ages. The Romans knew in the beginning 6 cultivated sorts and later mention 56 races. A late medieval Italian list mentions 232 varieties.

Around 1640 in England only 60 varieties were known. In 1842 more than 700.

In 1860 the American author T.W. Fields mentions 850 races.

This fast increase of pear cultivars during the late 18th century can be ascribed to a few French and Belgian cultivators.

Generally Pears are loaded with good for you stuff. Pears are a good source of Vitamin C, potassium and Dietary fiber yet they have no-cholesterol and are low-calorie with only 100 calories per serving.

1. http://www.usapears.com/pears/default.asp
2. http://www.thefruitpages.com/pears.shtml