Fruit Maven » european http://fruitmaven.com Your guide through the wild world of fruit. Wed, 08 Feb 2012 22:23:03 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.1 en hourly 1 Comice Pear http://fruitmaven.com/2011/11/comice-pear/ http://fruitmaven.com/2011/11/comice-pear/#comments Sat, 19 Nov 2011 16:55:07 +0000 Fruit Maven http://fruitmaven.com/?p=2458 The Comice Pear is know for being the Christmas pear and being an absolute favorite among the well fed masses. This is the same variety of pear that Harry & David rebranded as the Royal Riviera Pear and sells for exorbitant amounts throughout the holidays. Which gives me an idea…maybe I should start taking cheap common fruit, give it a new fancy name and sell it to you for super high prices. It’s not really in line with my values or anything, but who cares about that. I think it would work. Golden Delicious = $1, FruitMaven Golden Princess Apple = $5. I am definitely feeling this one. Stay tuned…

Back to pears, to tell you the truth I guess I’m not a huge fan of most of the grocery store pears. It pains me a bit to admit that. I like them, but I realized today that I never ever reach for a pear and I never crave them. Even the Starkrimson Pear, which I loved, I haven’t bought since then. Really, I see them more as a vehicle for pairing up with cheese and wine, which is a pretty legit function for any food in my book. The closer you can get me to cheese and wine, the better. Keep that in mind next time you want to wine and dine me. Also, bring an extra $5. I’ll be printing up some “Golden Princess Apple” labels soon.

comice-pears
APPEARANCE 3 out of 5 stars

Frumpy, bumpy chubby pear that is mostly green with a russet top and red blushing. White flesh.

AROMA 2.5 out of 5 stars

Very slight smell of dandelions.

TEXTURE 4 out of 5 stars

Delightfully soft and creamy but with a characteristic grainy finish and a gritty peel. Explosive juice that shoots across the room and drips down the chin. Grab a bib!

TASTE 4 out of 5 stars

Sweet but mild pear flavor with a little lemony touch.

OVERALL 3.38 out of 5 stars

Oh Comice, why must you be so gritty? The flavor of this pear is great and the level of juice just makes it feel extremely decadent. You can’t really help but laugh while eating it because it is such an indulgent mess. Pretty highly recommended if you are a pear person.

NOTES

One huge plus for this pear is that it is originally from France. Like many girls, I have a huge crush on France and on Paris in particular. I’m pretty sure someone needs to whisk me away on a pear excursion to the city of love. Anyone? Anyone? Buehller?

FRUIT
Pear		 PEAK
Fall 		PURCHASED
Whole Foods
VARIETY
Comice		 GROWN
Unknown

WHERE TO GET THEM

When in season, you can buy Comice Pears at your standard grocery store and online here or the fancy ones through Harry and David here. If you get them online, a small amount will go to support the Fruit Maven. So thanks in advance!

]]> http://fruitmaven.com/2011/11/comice-pear/feed/ 0 Bartlett Pear http://fruitmaven.com/2010/01/bartlett-pear/ http://fruitmaven.com/2010/01/bartlett-pear/#comments Sun, 31 Jan 2010 22:44:06 +0000 Keri http://fruitmaven.com/?p=1491 If there are at least three different bottles of hand sanitizer within 20 feet of you at all times, then this Bartlett Pear is the fruit for you! Bartlett Pears
APPEARANCE 4 out of 5 stars

Nice yellow and red skin, gets lots of bruises though so be gentle.

AROMA 4.5 out of 5 stars

Full and fragrant, sultry pear.

TEXTURE 4 out of 5 stars

Perfectly firm but giving; slightly grainy, like most pears.

TASTE 3.5 out of 5 stars

The quintessential pear – nothing detracting but nothing I would go on about either. At least it doesn’t have the papery skin or a bitter aftertaste.

OVERALL 4 out of 5 stars

This is a prissy person’s pear. It tastes very good but doesn’t drip juice all over you (though there is plenty of juice, don’t get me wrong). It discolors easily so there is value in taking great care when transporting it or it will look like the morning consequences of a late night brawl. Also it is normal enough that assuming you haven’t bruised the hell out of it, no attention will be drawn when you slice and eat it with a fork and knife. It’s everything someone uptight needs in an afternoon snack.

FRUIT

Pear

VARIETY

Bartlett

PEAK

Fall-Winter

GROWN

Unknown

PURCHASED

Grocery Store

NOTES

I was about to dismiss this pear as forgettably normal, when I came across this article. Apparently the Bartlett is the same as the Williams Pear, which is the very pear that is used for Williams Pear Schnapps, aka “au de vie of poire williams”. (Don’t I just sound so much more impressive when I say it in French? Yes, I am also currently wearing a tiara.) So of course this immediately caught my cocktail loving attention. Unfortunately, every site I found explaining how to make pear liquor of one kind or another requires crazy things like meat grinders and hammers, growing pears inside a glass bottle, or having access to something called “acid blend“. Fun? Yes. Gonna happen? No. Let me know if you give it a whirl. In the meantime I will be checking out all the pear cocktails on this dedicated pear cocktail blog. And you thought a site about fruit was a narrow niche. Au contraire.

RECIPES

Butternut Squash and Bartlett Pear Soup
Bartlett Pear Muffins (this is an entire site dedicated to pears!)

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