A Nice Pear….Ooh er missus!
Easy tiger, We’re talking pear trees..
Following a bumper crop of victoria plums this summer I picked and ate my first pear, straight off the tree. Sweet, crunchy, juicy and delicious. Marvellous.
My particular variety is called Williams Bon Chretian, it’s proved itself as a reliable and quite heavy cropper though not in the same league as the pear and apple trees. I am going to prune it quite hard this year, in previous years I’ve left it alone (yearly pruning is not always needed)
I like to eat pears on their own but soon get bored of them, I prefer to eat them as a component in something else like a salad or roasted with some pork or sausages. Sage is a good herb to accompany pears. I like to cook them in cider or white wine with some butter and brown sugar to give the fruit a glossy, sticky caramel coating. Once they’ve taken on the colour I stop them from cooking further because I like to retain the texture. If you forget about them and they go soft then don’t panic, I also cook them to a puree to accompany duck or pork as a change to traditional English apple sauce.
Like apples, pears can easily accomodate a number of flavourings; five spice, nutmeg, tarragon, chervil, sage and bay, ras el hanout, ginger, cinnamon, the list goes on. For desserts they are often poached in a spiced red wine or a stock syrup and served with chocolate sauce, but best of all is a freshly baked tarte tatin, the famous French upside down tart invented by the Tatin brothers. That and a ball of vanilla ice cream is all that you need.
This really is bloody great stuff !
Keep up the good work
DC
September 6, 2007 @ 11:07 am
Miles,
The Williams pear is such a good choice. It is known in the USA as the Bartlett pear. They refer to Bartletts as canning pears and use them in preserves, syrups, chutneys. In Germany it is known as Williams Christbirne and in Austria it is particularly known for the fine fruit Schnaps made from this lovely pear..
September 6, 2007 @ 5:40 pm
Derfel,
Thanks a lot!-much appreciated.
miles
September 6, 2007 @ 7:14 pm
Elsie,
Thanks for the extra info-didn’t know that and it’s very interesting. Fancy a job at Gourmet Food Source?!
Miles
September 6, 2007 @ 7:15 pm