Pyrus 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 19th and 20th 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.
Notable varieties of pear, past and present, include the following.
Abbé, a 19th century French variety, is a long, thin, greenish brown pear often with a red blush; a mid-autumn pear of good flavour and texture, used mainly for dessert.
Anjou; see Beurre, below.
Bartlett is the name used in the USA and Australia for Williams varieties (see below), after the American grower Enoch Bartlett who introduced them into the USA in 1817.
Beurre (which should really be spelled Beurré) varieties are particularly soft and juicy, with little of the gritty texture which some others exhibit. They include two good winter eating varieties: Beurre d'Anjou, broad, lopsided, and has a yellowish-green skin marked with russet; and Beurre Bosc, which is particularly aromatic in flavour, distinguished by a long, tapering neck, and coloured dark yellow with russet. Beurre Hardy is a harder kind often used for canning.
Clapp Favorite is an early ripening American dessert pear of fair quality, but rather granular. It is broad and dull greenish-yellow with some russeting.
Comice is short for Doyenné du Comice, which means ‘top of the show’. Many would agree with this boast. It is a broad, blunt pear, greenish-yellow marked with russet or a red blush. The texture is unequalled, juicy, and not even faintly gritty. The flavour is particularly sweet and aromatic. The Comice is a purely dessert pear—in season from late autumn to midwinter.
Conference, a widely sold English winter variety, is easily recognized by its long, thin shape and russet skin.
Glou Morceau, a pear which dates back to the 18th century, is also called Beurre d'Hardenpont, after the Belgian priest the Abbé Nicolas Hardenpont of Mons.
Jargonelle, a fine old French pear dating from about 1600, is a dessert or cooking fruit with a distinctive aroma which is roughly imitated in the traditional British sweet called ‘pear drops’. The main component of the fragrance is amyl acetate (which is also the smell of nail polish remover).
Josephine de Malines, a 19th-century pear of Belgian origin, is still grown commercially in the southern hemisphere. The pear was named by Major Espéren, an unsystematic but indefatigable grower, in commemoration of his wife; and it is the only important pear to have pink flesh. The scent is said to resemble that of the hyacinth.
Kaiser is a big, coarse, russet pear often on sale in continental Europe, but of no special merit.
Louise Bonne de Jersey is a pear to be picked towards the end of September, but not until it has what Brooke calls ‘a painted, varnished look; the red must be shining red, and the greener portion must be turning yellow.’
Olivier de Serres, an old French variety often seen in S. Europe, is a good dessert pear which ripens very late. Dull greenish-brown, squat, and short necked.
Passe crasanne, a late winter pear suitable mainly for cooking, is common in S. Europe. It is big, broad, dull greenish-brown, and well flavoured, but rather coarse in texture. Coming from Italy, it bears the name Passacrassana.
Seckel, an American pear with a particularly good spicy flavour, but a rather granular texture. It is small, brownish-yellow, and russeted, often with a red blush. It is said that it was found as seedling by a trapper when he bought a piece of woodland in 1765.
Wardens, often referred to by Shakespeare and Parkinson, were cooking pears. For centuries Warden was the pear most commonly grown.
Williams, called Bartlett in the USA and Australia, now has several varieties. It was raised in 1770 in Berkshire by a schoolmaster called John Stair and was renamed Williams when it arrived in London. It was later taken to America by Enoch Bartlett and renamed again. All varieties are good dessert pears and good for cooking. They are also used for canning. The flavour is pleasantly musky. The season begins early, in late summer. The original variety, Williams bon Chrétien, is dull green with a red blush; there are now also clear green and red kinds.
Winter Nelis, a long-keeping pear in season from late autumn to late spring, has an excellent spicy flavour and a fair texture but lost popularity, partly because of its small size and rough skin, and partly because a high proportion of the fruits go bad in storage. The name is that of Jean Charles Nelis, a Belgian grower of the early 19th century.
Alan Davidson was a distinguished author and publisher, and one of the world's best-known writers on fish and fish cookery. In 1975 he retired early from the diplomatic service—after serving in, among other places, Washington, Egypt, Tunisia, and Laos, where he was British Ambassador—to pursue a fruitful second career as a food historian and food writer extraordinaire. Among his popular books are Seafood of South-East Asia, North Atlantic Seafood, and Mediterranean Seafood. In 2003, shortly before his death, he was awarded the Erasmus Prize for his contribution to European culture.
Bunyard, E. A. (1920), A Handbook of Hardy Fruits: Apples and Pears, London: John Murray.
Jackson, Ian (1995), ‘Fragments of the History of the Pear’, PPC 49.
