PEARS originated in the same region as apples—the great swath of land in central Asia that runs from the Caucasus Mountains in the west to the Chinese border in the east. There are 20 known wild species, but many cultivated varieties—I’ve seen estimates of 1,000 to 5,000. Only about twenty of these are of major importance in commerce, however. One of these, the White Doyenne, appears to be a variety known in ancient Rome and described in writing and in wall paintings.
Most of our modern pear varieties came into being due to a great deal of breeding work done in France in the 16th through the 18th centuries, especially in the area around Angers. Anjou and Duchesse d’Angoulème are two popular varieties developed in those years. In the 19th century, Belgium became the center of pear breeding; the so-called butter pears (for their buttery flavor, not their texture), including Bosc, come from that country. Bartlett originated in England around 1770. Comice was bred in Angers in the 19th century, and Clapp’s Favorite was bred in Massachusetts in the mid-19th century.
THE ORGANIC FACTOR
In addition to fresh pears, these days one can find canned and dried organic pears in the markets. Make sure that dried organic pears are unsulfured. Sulfuring, usually with sulfur dioxide, inactivates polyphenoloxidase, an enzyme that darkens the fruit during drying, so if the dried pears are light in color, they’ve most likely been sulfured. This sulfur compound can cause severe allergic reactions in some people. You give up something in appearance but gain in purity with unsulfured organic dried fruit.
Pears are relatively trouble-free to grow, and so lend themselves to organic culture. If you’d like to learn about growing pears organically yourself, visit attra.ncat.org/attra-pub/pear.html . This site describes organic solutions to the common pear problems, although I have grown pears on both coasts and have never had to use any controls at all to have fine crops.
NUTRITION
Pears have a good amount of fiber, some vitamin C, and 150 milligrams of potassium per 100 grams of fruit.
TYPES
Pears are grouped into categories by pomologists, or fruit-growing experts. The first category is European pears (as opposed to the very different Asian pears), which is broken down between pear varieties used only for cooking and pear varieties that can also be eaten, known as dessert pears. All the pears listed in the Top Varieties section are dessert pears. These two subcategories are further divided into sub-subcategories by skin color: green-skinned, yellow-skinned, red-skinned, and purple-skinned. Another type is Southern Cross pears, a hybrid of a cooking pear developed for the southern states where European pears, from more northerly areas, won’t grow well. They lack the quality of European pears. A last type of pear, perry pears, are used to make perry—the pear equivalent of hard apple cider.
SEASONALITY
August and early September are the season for pears.
WHAT TO LOOK FOR
Many pears, including the familiar Bartlett, Anjou, Bosc, and Comice varieties, must ripen after harvesting, so you can buy them unripe. ....read more
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