🍝 Enjoy the cooking of Italy and save 25% on ckbk Membership 🇮🇹
By Harold McGee
Published 2004
Originally, all pears were gritty “sand pears” and hard-fleshed. Centuries of breeding greatly reduced the prominence of gritty stone cells (but not in varieties for making perry, the pear version of cider, where they’re valued for helping to grind the flesh before fermentation). The soft “butter” texture characteristic of many European pears was developed in the 18th century by Belgian and French breeders. European pears are classified in three groups according to when they’re harvested and their traditional storage life (now extended by controlled atmospheres and temperatures). Summer pears like the Bartlett (also called
Unlimited, ad-free access to hundreds of the world’s best cookbooks
Over 150,000 recipes with thousands more added every month
Recommended by leading chefs and food writers
Powerful search filters to match your tastes
Create collections and add reviews or private notes to any recipe
Swipe to browse each cookbook from cover-to-cover
Manage your subscription via the My Membership page
Advertisement
Advertisement