Posted on: Wednesday, December 10, 2003

Savor an elegant classic

• Can't tell a Bosc from a Bartlett?
• Put your pears in the oven for a treat

By Judith Blake
Seattle Times

For sheer elegance, the pear may be peerless among fruit.

Its curving grace and rich hues — gold, green, russet or ruby red — have long enchanted artists as well as diners and lent beauty to both paintings and platters.

But this fruit's charm is more than skin deep. Pears also lure us with luscious taste.

Washington state leads the nation in growing pears, and the latest harvest is a bumper crop, said Maggie Andre, spokeswoman for the Pear Bureau Northwest trade organization.

"This is a record year for pear production in the Northwest," Andre said.

Grocery stores and farmers' markets now boast handsome displays of many pear varieties, including yellow Bartlett, red Bartlett, green Anjou, red Anjou, Comice, the russet-skinned Bosc, Asian pears, the Forelle and the tiny Seckel, so sweet it's sometimes called the sugar or honey pear.

Pears are usually divided into summer or winter varieties, though their harvest seasons and availability overlap.

The popular Bartlett is a summer pear, harvested primarily in August but available in stores until late December or early January.

Northwest winter pears include red and green Anjous, Bosc, Comice, Seckel and Forelle.

Depending on the variety, they're harvested from mid-September through October but can be found in stores for months after that.

Particularly durable in cold storage is the Anjou, available through May and sometimes into June.

Unlike most fruits, pears have better taste and texture when they're ripened after picking instead of on the tree. When you buy them, they're usually unripe, even rock-hard, but will ripen at home — a process you can hasten by placing them in a closed paper bag or a covered bowl at room temperature.

A pear should be ripe when it yields to gentle pressure at the stem end.

Unfortunately, pears sometimes disappoint with a mealy or gritty texture and little flavor — a possible result of being picked too late, experts say.

Also irritating: Pears sometimes rot before they ripen, possibly because they were stored too long.

The classic way to savor pears is as a simple, uncooked dessert served with cheese and nuts and perhaps a sip of port.

But it's also fun to explore ways to cook with this versatile fruit, which can bring its flavor and texture not only to desserts but to salads, preserves, main dishes and more.

Demonstrating the wide range of uses for pears in "The Great Book of Pears," author Barbara Jeanne Flores includes recipes for everything from Grilled Bartletts and Gingered Pork Chops to Celeriac and Asian Pear Salad, Anise Red Pear Tart, a pear upside-down cake, a chutney, a salsa, a sorbet and a pear smoothie.

Pears are frequently poached, then topped with various sauces. While the poaching liquid is often red wine, Flores suggests trying other liquids, such as espresso mixed with kahlua and cinnamon, or nonalcoholic possibilities such as grape juice, apple cider or cranberry juice, each enlivened with lemon or orange zest.

Or eat a perfectly ripe pear, unadorned. For this fan of the fruit, such memorable moments have occurred in sharply contrasting settings, once in the sizzling heat of late summer in central Washington and again in the deep cold of an Alaskan winter.

If you love pears you've probably had such moments of your own. Maybe, like a companion and me, you were passing through Washington's orchard country on a blistering day when you stopped at a fruit stand and found welcome refreshment in a sweet and juicy Bartlett.

Or perhaps your ultimate pear moment came in more unusual circumstances, as when a fellow traveler offered to share a pear with me in snowy Nome, where uncommonly cold weather had grounded the 10-seat plane we were scheduled to board. The taste of warmer climes could not have come at a better time.

• • •

Can't tell a Bosc from a Bartlett?

Pears vary in size, shape, color, flavor, texture and uses. Only a tiny fraction of the thousands of pear varieties that exist worldwide can be found in most U.S. stores and markets. Below are some of them.

Kept in cold storage, most pears remain available long past their harvest seasons.

• Yellow Bartlett: Usually sold green but ripens to bright yellow. Sweet, juicy, and aromatic; flavor sometimes described as slightly musky. Excellent for fresh eating as well as poaching and other cooking uses. Available August through January.
• Red Bartlett: Ruby red when fully ripe. Same flavor, texture and uses as yellow Bartletts. Available August through January, though some experts believe this pear begins to lose quality in cold storage by October.
• Bosc: Elegant in appearance, this large, aromatic and flavorful pear is brown or russet in color, remaining so when ripe. Dense flesh makes it good for cooking and baking, as in pear upside-down cake. Available August through April.
• Green Anjou: Sweet and juicy, this pear has a somewhat rounder shape than the Bartlett or Bosc and remains green even when ripe. Available October through June.
• Red Anjou: Deep-red when ripe, this variety is much like the green Anjou in flavor and texture. Available October through May.
• Comice: Another relatively large pear, the Comice is greenish-yellow with a red blush. The buttery flesh is particularly sweet and juicy, with a hint of spiciness. More fragile than some other pears, the Comice also has a shorter period of availability than some — August through February.
• Asian pear: Many varieties have been developed. Though some are round like apples, these are true pears, not an apple/pear hybrid, as they might appear. Their flesh tends to be grainier than that of other pears.
• Seckel: A tiny pear that is green/russet with a red blush, the Seckel is exceptionally sweet, making it useful for sorbets, preserves, baked des-serts, poaching and eating fresh.
• Forelle: A smallish pear that ripens to bright yellow dotted with crimson. Sweet and juicy.

• • •

Put your pears in the oven for a treat

Find new pleasure in pears with the following recipes.

This is James Beard Lifetime Achievement Award Winner Marion Cunningham's recipe for a simple baked pear dessert.

Baked Walnut-stuffed Pears

• 4 pears, ripe and firm
• 1/4 cup raisins
• 3 tablespoons chopped California walnuts
• 2 1/2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1/4 cup water
• 1/4 cup light corn syrup

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Peel pears, leaving stems on. Core pears on the blossom end (the bottom).

Mix raisins, walnuts, sugar and lemon juice in a shallow bowl. Fill the cavity of each pear with this mixture, dividing filling equally. Place pears upright in a deep baking dish. Blend water and corn syrup and pour into baking dish. Cover with a lid or foil and bake in a preheated 350-degree oven for 1 hour and 15 minutes, or until pears are easily pierced with a fork.

Serve warm or cold with some of the syrup spooned over the top.

Serves 4.

From "Italy in Small Bites" by Carol Field.

Pear Upside-down Cake

Caramel fruit topping:

• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into pieces
• 3/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
• 2 large, firm but ripe Bosc pears, peeled, cored and cut into 1/2-inch slices
• Optional: 1/2 cup dried cranberries

Almond cake:

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 can (8 ounces) almond paste
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs, room temperature
• 1/4 teaspoon almond extract
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup milk
• Sweetened whipped cream

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

To prepare the topping: In a small saucepan, melt butter over low heat. Using a wooden spoon, stir in brown sugar and ginger. Boil 1 minute, stirring constantly. Pour the caramel into a 9-inch ungreased cake pan, spreading with a spatula.

Arrange the pears in concentric circles on top of the caramel. Sprinkle with cranberries and set aside.

To prepare the cake: Sift together flour, baking powder, salt, ginger and nutmeg. Set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream almond paste, butter and sugar on medium-high speed 4 to 5 minutes. (A well-beaten mixture will help make cake lighter.) Add eggs, one at a time, beating a minute after each addition. Beat in almond and vanilla extracts. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.

On low speed, add dry ingredients alternately with the milk just until incorporated. Don't overmix at this stage. Spread batter evenly over cake.

Bake on center oven rack 45 to 50 minutes, or until top springs back when lightly touched. (If the top of the cake becomes too brown, cover loosely with aluminum foil.) Let cool on a rack 5 minutes. Run a small knife around the edge of the cake to release it. Place a round, flat serving plate over the pan and invert it. Slowly lift off cake pan. Let cool at least 10 minutes before serving with whipped cream.

Serves 8.

From "The Kitchen Detective" by Christopher Kimball.

Roasted Pear Salad with Arugula and Goat Cheese

• 1 tablespoon softened butter
• 3 ripe but firm pears, peeled, quartered lengthwise and cored
• 1/3 cup chopped pecans
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 tablespoon white balsamic or white wine vinegar
• 1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 teaspoons finely chopped shallot
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 3 large bunches (or two 5-ounce bags) arugula, washed, dried and stemmed
• 1 cup finely sliced radicchio
• 2 to 4 ounces fresh goat cheese

Adjust oven rack to the center position and preheat oven to 475 degrees. Butter a 9-by-13-inch baking dish, arrange pears in dish and cover with aluminum foil. Reduce heat to 450 degrees and roast pears 5 minutes. Remove foil and continue baking 8 minutes, or until pears are just tender. Cool to room temperature.

Toast pecans in a dry skillet over medium heat until fragrant and lightly browned, about 3 to 5 minutes. Set aside.

Place salt, cumin, vinegar and mustard in a small bowl and whisk briefly. Slowly add olive oil, whisking until smooth and thickened. Stir in shallot and season with pepper. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Place prepared arugula and radicchio in a bowl, cover with a paper towel and refrigerate. When ready to serve, dress greens with vinaigrette, tossing gently to coat evenly. Distribute greens onto plates. Crumble goat cheese over the greens and top with pears. Sprinkle pecans over salads and serve immediately.

Serves 4 to 6.