Cheers to the underappreciated pear
Appearently December 5 is World Pear Day and kicks off National Pear Month. Yet, who knew? The pear just doesn’t get a fair shake. My formative experience with pears was watching my mom canning them. I don’t remember ever eating a fresh pear as a kid. Rather, they came from a jar, canned in syrup, or chopped up in fruit cocktail. Only when I visited my brother-in-law’s family farm in southern Oregon about 10 years ago did I come to appreciate the beauty of the often-overlooked pear.
The Vaughn family farm encompasses 150 acres of which 22 acres are pear trees. This equates to about 5,500 trees made up of Bartlett, Bosc, Comice, Packham and Starkrimson, strategically planted for cross pollination.
Why is the pear underappreciated? Maybe because it has to compete with the apple. While pears are just as healthy and delicious as apples, they get less press and less research dollars contributing to a lower popularity rating. You could argue that pears aren’t as versatile, but you can totally substitute pears for apples in many recipes. Where pears are different is that they are picked from the tree before they ripen and require a period of cool storage to activate the ripening process, making them more challenging to get to consumers at the optimal time. And when we do get our hands on a fresh crop of pears, many of us still don’t know how to tell when a pear is perfectly ripe.
Check your pear’s neck
According to the Pear Bureau Northwest – and my sister and brother-in-law – you can tell if a pear is ripe by using the Check the Neck™ method. Simply leave your pears at room temperature to ripen. Check for ripeness daily by applying gentle pressure to the neck with your thumb. If it yields to pressure, then it’s ready to eat. Don’t wait for the entire pear to be soft! And depending on the variety, you can’t wait for pears to change colors. Bartletts are one of the only pears that actually change color as they ripen.
A rundown on the pears grown on the family farm
Bartletts are soft and juicy and known as the canning pear. In season from August through February, the Bartlett is what many of us think of when we think of a pear. Bartletts are unique in that their skin changes from a lime green color to yellow as they ripen. A golden yellow Bartlett will be the juiciest but make sure to eat before it bruises and gets mushy. I find that if you think it may not be quite ripe, err on the side of just eating it! It’s better to be a little firm than mushy. They are perfect for eating fresh. Top a mixed green, arugula or spinach salad with fresh sliced pears, nuggets of creamy goat cheese, and toasted pecans or walnuts. So simple but so tasty.
I received a box of pears straight from the Vaughn orchard in mid August and was inspired to make a pear quesadilla per a recipe from the Pears cookbook by Linda West Eckhardt. I stuffed my quesadilla with Bartlett pear, jalapeño, diced sweet onion, fresh cilantro and mint, lime zest and juice, Manchego and parmesan cheeses, and black pepper. Oh and pepitas!
Bosc pears are in the least sweet category but make up for that in their unique beauty. Popular as the “poaching pear,” they are a warm brown-colored pear with a long, curved stem and an elegant neck. The skin is tougher so best peeled and used mostly for baking. In season from September through April, Bosc pears have a denser flesh and will "give" less than other pears when they are ready. Boscs keep their shape and texture better than other pears and their flavor holds up to poaching in strong-flavored spices. My first pear-poaching endeavor was this gorgeous chocolate loaf cake that shows the beauty of the pears. I used this recipe for the cake but for poaching I used sparkling apple cider and chai-inspired spices including two cinnamon sticks, 10 cardamom pods, a palmful of whole all spice, cloves and nutmeg. Poaching in chai tea would have worked as well.
Comice is a short, squat and super sweet pear with fragile skin. I had never heard of Comice until my sister’s mother-in-law sent us a box of these delicacies during the holidays. Comice are actually known as the Christmas pear, in season from September through February and the ones that are often carefully packed in Christmas gift boxes to avoid bruising. They are the sweetest pear in my opinion, so pretty much why they’re my favorite. The flavor is often described as succulent and buttery (again, why I like them). They sometimes have a reddish spot on their mostly green skin. Comice are especially nice on a holiday charcuterie board sliced and served alongside cheeses. I like brie but have to give a shout out to Rogue River Blue, which is the first American cheese to be crowned the best cheese in the world.
Packhams are an Australian variety known for their sweet creamy flavor and smooth consistency. But I have to confess, I’m not sure if I’ve ever eaten a Packham pear from the family orchard. They are on the larger size, have white flesh. Similar to the Bartlett, their skin changes from green to pale yellow when ripe. My sister calls them the “lumpy winter pear”. Packham’s season extends from spring through winter and can be used for baking, poaching or eating fresh.
Starkrimson pears are a bright crimson red color and have a mild sweetness with a floral aroma. The USA Pear site calls Starkrimson a summer pear. They are the first pears harvested on the farm in early August but only last until November. Starkrimson also change skin color as they ripen, going from a deep red or crimson to a bright red. They look beautiful displayed on your kitchen counter with lime green Bartletts and their best presentation is sliced fresh atop green salads or on a charcuterie board where their red color can shine bright.
December is the pear-fect time to try your hand at new pear recipes. Here are the recipes on my pear bucket list:
Pear and Salted Caramel Crostata
Pear Naan Pizza with Honey Whipped Goat Cheese
In the meantime, I’m waiting for my sister to make her annual holiday Spiced Pear Vodka from a preserving book called Put ‘em Up by Sherri Brooks Vinton. I mean, what does one do with so many pears?
Cheers to pears!