Pears: Raw

Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “There are only ten minutes in the life of a pear when it is perfect to eat.” Thankfully, shaving raw pears is best done with underripe pears so they hold their shape. When slicing a raw pear, cut it in half longitudinally and then, using a melon baller or teaspoon, remove the blossom end, seedy core, and fibrous stem threads. Then place flat-side down on the cutting board and cut into the desired shape. Alternatively, slice the whole thing, stem and seeds included, on a mandoline into paper-thin cross sections. The fibrous parts will be so thin that they will be palatable.