Apples often hog the autumn/winter spotlight when it comes to seasonal fruit, but they don't upstage pears when it comes to taste or nutritional value. Delicate and elegant, their buttery soft flesh and slim stem makes it worth the extra effort to enjoy them when they're perfectly ripe. Another reason why eating locally and in season is so much fun.. Pears are a plan-ahead fruit. They don't ripen well on the tree — becoming mealy and brown at the core. Instead, pears are best picked when they're mature, but still under-ripe, and allowed to ripen at the market or in the home. Look for fruits with smooth skin and an intact stem.
Ripen them at home at room temperature in a plastic bag poked with holes or in a loosely closed brown paper bag. Refrigerate them once they're ripe. Some markets will sell ready-to-eat pears, but before you buy these, make sure they're carefully, individually wrapped and aren't stacked up more than two levels high. The pressure from the other fruits will likely bruise the flesh of a ripe pear. For the same reason, when you pack them up to take home from the market, make sure they're on top of the bag.
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