How to Eat a Pear

Eating a Pear

Choose your type of pear. Each type of pear has a distinct flavor, color, shape, and season. No one type of pear is superior to the other, so it's up to you to decide which type of pear you want to eat, based on what pears are available to you. Here are some of the most common types of pears: Anjou pears: These are golden green and have a buttery, sweet flavor, are in season from October to May. Asian pears: These are yellow, sort of apple shaped, and taste like a watermelon crossed with a potato. Bartlett pears: These are best when they have turned yellow, but still have green flecks they are summer pears that bruise very easily. These are green when unripe; there are also Red Bartlett pears which are similar except for their color. Bosc pears: These have golden skin and have a spicy, aromatic flavor. Comice pears: These pears are thick-skinned, green, juicy pears. Seckel pears: These pears are small and red and green and are perfect for snacks.

Wait for the pear to ripen. Usually, when you buy a pear in a store, it is still hard and not quite ripe, so you will probably have to wait until it is ripened at home. Contrary to popular belief, you should actually start the ripening process by cooling the pears in the fridge first (just 1-2 days for Bartlett pears, but anywhere from 2-6 weeks for Anjou, Bosc, or Comice pears) for optimal effect. Once you remove them from the fridge, you should ripen them at between 65-75 degrees, waiting from 4-10 days for them to reach their full potential. To speed up the process after you take the pears out of the fridge, you can place them in a paper bag or near a ripe apple or banana.

Eat the pair out of your hand, skin and all. You can eat pears just like you eat an apple, by holding them and eating around the middle. Pears have cores too, so don't eat too far in (unless you want to)! If you don't like the taste of the pear's skin and find it too bitter or tough, you can carefully remove the skin with a knife first. This will make the pear a bit more juicy and tougher to eat out of your hand, though, so if you want to skin the pear, it may be better to eat them sliced (see the next step).

Slice the pear before eating it. You can also chop up a pear before eating it. Before cutting, you might consider peeling the pear, especially if it is thick skinned, to increase the flavor. Remove the skin from the pear, slice it in half, remove the core from each side by scooping it out with a knife, and then cut the pear into slices or chunks as thick or thin as you'd like them to be.

Poach the pear. All you need to enjoy a poached pair is some sugar, boiling water, and some vanilla essence.

Incorporating Pears into Recipes

Make pear relish. Make this delicious relish by boiling your pears along with a mixture of cinnamon, all spice, honey, and vinegar in a cheesecloth, and letting them set overnight. Then all you have to do is drain their syrup, boil it, and pour it over the pears. Can the pears and your relish is ready.

Make pear pie. All you need to make a delicious pear pie is some pie crust, sugar, flour, pears, butter, a few other key ingredients, and some patience to wait for the tasty pie to bake. Place it in the oven for 10 minutes at 450ºF (232ºC) and then cook it for another 30-40 minutes at 350ºF(176ºC) and you're good to go.

Make Asian Pear salad with pecans. To make this tasty salad, you need a variety of ingredients, such as Asian pears, pecans, vinegar, olive oil, mustard, and Gorgonzola cheese. Toss the ingredients together and you're done.

Make rhubarb, apple, and pear crisp. To make this tasty dessert, all you need to do is slice your rhubarb stalks, apples, and pears, place them in a baking dish, and cover them with a flaky mixture of butter, oats, and cinnamon. Then place the dish in the oven at 350ºF/180ºC and bake it for 50 minutes.