pearPyrus communis, P. sinensis, and other Pyrus spp; a fruit of which the connoisseur Edward Bunyard (1920) remarked that, while it is ‘the duty of an apple to be crisp and crunchable, a pear should have such a texture as leads to silent consumption’. He meant pears of the western world, ignoring the crunchy Asian pears which in his time were gritty and inferior although the fine new varieties of them are no longer gritty.
The pear originated in the general region of the Caucasus, as did its cousin the apple; and both fruits were spread by the Aryan tribes from that area as they migrated into Europe and N. India. Both belong to the rose family, Rosaceae.
The original wild pear has been developed into what are now nearly 1,000 varieties, after a certain amount of interbreeding with other native wild pears of Europe and Asia. Of these last the two which are important in their own right are P. pyrifolia (Asian/nashi/apple/salad pear) and P. ussuriensis (Chinese white pear, Harbin pear). The former tends to have apple-shaped fruits; while the latter has fruits of a more typical pear shape. But there are so many cultivars and hybrids (falling into two groups, the so-called ‘red pears’ which have a brownish skin, and the pale green or yellow ‘green pears’) that no general statements about them are completely valid.
In ancient times the pear was generally considered a better fruit than the apple. Thus in China only one variety of apple was known until the end of the Sung dynasty (ad 1279), but there were many varieties of pear. In classical Greece and Rome a similar preference was evident. Around 300 bc the Greek writer Theophrastus discussed the growing of pears, including advanced techniques such as grafting and cross-pollination. Two centuries later, in Rome, Pliny the Elder described 41 varieties, whereas his parallel list of apples was much shorter.
During the Middle Ages the pear was especially popular in France and Italy, and most pears grown in Britain were from French stock. However, the famous Warden pear was of British origin; it was raised by Cistercian monks at an abbey in Bedfordshire. So important did it become as a cooking pear that it was regarded as a fruit in its own right; one finds references to ‘wardens and pears’. Although pears for dessert were prized, it is noticeable that the balance between them and cooking pears was much more even in the past than it became in the last two centuries.
The 16th century saw considerable activity by pear-breeders. At its end, two manuscripts detailing the fruits served at the table of the vegetarian Grand Duke Cosimo III of Florence listed 209 and 232 different varieties which had appeared there alone. In 1640 Britain had a mere 64; but by 1842 this had risen to over 700.
In the 17th century pear-growing in France was at its height and many new varieties were developed. Louis XIV was particularly interested in fruit and vegetables and the pear was one of his favourite fruits. The introduction of espaliered trees, whose fruit ripened more evenly and was not so blown about as in open orchards, helped to promote the growing of fine pears in the Paris region.
The most notable pear-growers of the 18th century were both Belgian. Nicholas Hardenpont of Mons (Bergen) bred the first of the juicy, soft pears called Beurre (butter), and these were later developed by another famous Belgian breeder, Dr van Mons. Beurre varieties remain among the best of pears.
There are no native American pears. The pear was introduced into N. America in 1629, when the Massachusetts Company ordered pear seeds from England. Because the first American pears were raised from seed which, like that of the apple, does not breed true to variety, American pears became even more diverse than their European ancestors and many good, purely American strains arose.
In New England, during the 19th century, an extraordinary degree of enthusiasm for pears developed, so extraordinary that it deserved the name ‘pearmania’. This phenomenon has been described, along with other remarkable features of the history of the pear, by Ian Jackson (1995).
Pears can be picked before they are fully ripe, though not too long before. They will ripen in a fairly cool place. Without this useful characteristic it would be impossible to market them, for a ripe pear is not only soft and easily damaged but also passes through its period of perfect ripeness in a matter of hours, and after that quickly spoils (a process which can be slightly slowed by refrigeration).
A traditional way of preserving pears is by halving and drying. Also, pears are commercially canned on a large scale. The processors take care to avoid the development of a pink colour when the pears are heated in the can, whereas domestic cooks and professional chefs are pleased to achieve this effect.
The flavour of cooked pears is often improved by the addition of, e.g., red wine, almonds, or vanilla. Pears also go well with chocolate. In the dish Poires belle Hélène, whose name celebrates Offenbach’s operetta about Helen of Troy, cooked pears are combined with chocolate sauce and vanilla ice cream. Italians eat pears with parmesan or pecorino cheese, a good marriage of flavours.
