A Paean to Pears

[JoNorvelleWalker]

I've been working my way through Giuliano Bugialli's Classic Techniques of Italian Cooking.  Under Chapter 2, Ingredients, Homemade Ingredients, and Basic Preparations one recipe particularly called out to me:  pears Corrado (Pere alla Corrado) pp 61-62.

 

Fresh bosc or comice pears are simply marinated in white wine and caramelized sugar until the sugar dissolves into a thin, highly flavored syrup.

 

 

Bosc pears in Soave.

 

 

 

Mysterious white powder.

 

 

About a hundred and fifty degrees later -- 170 deg C, to be precise -- the amber syrup was poured over the pears.

 

 

And no, no picture trying to hold an iPad, pouring molten sugar over my foot.  I know my limitations and the caramelized sugar all went in the bowl (actually, in this case, my tarte Tatin pan).

 

 

 

Result shown in the Dinner thread.

 

Actually bosc pears may be somewhat of an anachronism here.  Bugialli states Corrado published the recipe in his "earlier cookbook".  But bosc pears were not invented till Corrado was nearly 100.  And bosc pears were not had on this continent till Corrado was 100.

 

[kayb]

I love a good, ripe pear more than just about any fruit. One of my favorites is just raw, sliced, with blue cheese. Or sliced, with blue cheese and a drizzle of honey, broiled. Or poached in merlot. Or pear preserves with scrambled eggs (good fresh farm eggs, bacon and a biscuit on the side). Or most any other way I've ever had them.

[paulraphael]

I've never tried cooking comice pears. I just assumed they'd disintegrate. Anyone know otherwise?

 

Interesting that bosc pears are newcomers. I often buy those to cook, since they're robust, and I like the way the flavor develops.

Edited May 31, 2017 by paulraphael (log)

[JoNorvelleWalker]

1 hour ago, paulraphael said:

I've never tried cooking comice pears. I just assumed they'd disintegrate. Anyone know otherwise?

 

Interesting that bosc pears are newcomers. I often buy those to cook, since they're robust, and I like the way the flavor develops.

 

 

I don't often see comice and I don't believe I've ever cooked them.  However in Pere alla Corrado the pears remain uncooked.

 

It is the end of the bosc season and bosc is what I found in the store.  Organic too.

 

[JoNorvelleWalker]

I misspoke through ignorance.  Yesterday I found many comice in the store, just not in the organic section.

 

Curiously having now finished the volume, the inside rear cover of Classic Techniques of Italian Cooking has a color plate of Pere alla Corrado.  Bugialli arranged his pear slices the same as mine, ha!  But stark white pears in an almost cochineal scarlet syrup.  I may have seriously misinterpreted the recipe...though more likely in 1982 Bugialli had neither Photoshop nor a calibrated monitor.

 

[jmacnaughtan]

On 2017-6-1 at 8:53 AM, JoNorvelleWalker said:

I misspoke through ignorance.  Yesterday I found many comice in the store, just not in the organic section.

 

Curiously having now finished the volume, the inside rear cover of Classic Techniques of Italian Cooking has a color plate of Pere alla Corrado.  Bugialli arranged his pear slices the same as mine, ha!  But stark white pears in an almost cochineal scarlet syrup.  I may have seriously misinterpreted the recipe...though more likely in 1982 Bugialli had neither Photoshop nor a calibrated monitor.

 

 

It looks interesting.

 

And this may be a silly question, but are these pears destined for sweet or savoury purposes?

[JoNorvelleWalker]

6 hours ago, jmacnaughtan said:

 

It looks interesting.

 

And this may be a silly question, but are these pears destined for sweet or savoury purposes?

 

So far more savory, i.e. accompaniment to pork where I might otherwise serve applesauce.

 

[jmacnaughtan]

41 minutes ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

 

So far more savory, i.e. accompaniment to pork where I might otherwise serve applesauce.

 

 

Ah, OK.  So do you do anything to counter the sweetness of the caramel and the pears?  In my experience, they don't have much in the way of acidity.

 

But with pork they should be excellent

[JoNorvelleWalker]

The dish isn't all that sweet.  The two cups of Soave provide some acidity.  Bugialli speculates that dry Marsala was invented to resemble the flavor profile of this recipe.

 

[Nancy in Pátzcuaro]

I am especially fond of Marcella Hazan's recipe for A Farm Wife's Fresh Pear Tart (p. 589 of Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking). I've made it so many times that the book falls open to that page. I have added a tsp. of almond extract to the recipe and I sometimes make it with a streusel topping that includes pine nuts. It's a big favorite at potlucks. I used Anjou pears when I couldn't get Boscs, which I thought were better for the recipe.

 

At one time I had a recipe for Pear Honey that included lime rind as one of the ingredients. Alas, I no longer have that recipe, but if anyone else knows anything like that I'd appreciate hearing from you. It was a superb way to use up a load of pears if you were prepared to process the jars.

 

Nancy in Pátzcuaro

[Thanks for the Crepes]

I remember making pear jam in Home Ec about a million years ago. It was small batch and put into scrupulously clean jars for the fridge, no canning process, but was really, really good. I've never seen commercial pear jelly or jam. Mine lasted no time around the large family I lived with at the time.

 

We had a couple of pear trees when we lived in Arlington, Virginia for a little while. The dang wasps got most of them when we went on a vacation to visit the grandfolks in Louisiana.  The pears came lovely ripe just when we were gone. The wasps dig a hole straight through the skin and eat out a hole in them and make a huge and menacing nuisance of themselves if you try to salvage any. I never knew wasps ate fruit before that. I'm sure there must be some purpose for wasps, but I'm hanged it I can see it.  

[MelissaH]

We were in Alsace last week, and picked up a jar of Christine Ferber's pear william and cardamom confiture. Admittedly, this is hardly a run-of-the-mill commercial pear jam, but I'm really looking forward to opening it (and am debating what the best way to use it will be).

[blue_dolphin]

1 hour ago, MelissaH said:

We were in Alsace last week, and picked up a jar of Christine Ferber's pear william and cardamom confiture. Admittedly, this is hardly a run-of-the-mill commercial pear jam, but I'm really looking forward to opening it (and am debating what the best way to use it will be).

 

Mmmmm!  I love the combination of pear and cardamom!