PEARS

[irina]

Curryong: Pears are funny. There are a lot of varieties and some are not fit to eat. Some are best for cooking and many are excellent for eating. They tend to ripen after they fall from the tree. In the US we consider bartlett pears to be excellent for eating. I am unclear about winter pears. I have a tree that is probably that but the pears are small, forever green and taste awful. A friend decided the tree itself is no good. I assume what I found in the wilds must be winter pears as they are dead green and have no intention of coming off the tree and it is nearing winter here. I have a few to play with and can always go get more if they are any good.

Because pears come off the tree green and hard it must be easy to ship them. I am sure there are some varieties that are tougher than others.

[Curryong]

Several people that I know have pear trees but I've never had a pear tree myself.
We have several varieties of pear in Australia. The hotter parts of the country, Queensland, Western Australia are not the greatest at pear-growing. Victoria and Tasmania are regarded as cooler regions and grow quite a bit of fruit. There are lots of varieties, mostly, as you might guess, imported strains.

We have Josephine de Mallines which is available between April and December, our coldest months.

A qualle or honey pear called Winter Nelis available between April and November. It's smaller and sweeter than most.

The Williams or Bartlett pears are also common here. Because of our large Asian population Asian pears, round and yellow or brown in colour are sold here too. The Huon Valley in Tassie (Tasmania) is known for its high quality apples and pears. Some is for the home market, a lot is exported and some goes into the perry and cider this state is also known for. Delicious! However, as I have said, I haven't enjoyed a truly munchy yet juicy pear for years, really.

On a slightly different subject the tiger or prickly pear cactus was brought to Australia in the 19th century by some bright spark squatter (rancher) who thought it would serve as decorative fencing. It spread like wildfire, cattle died eating it and it became a huge problem. In the 1920's the authorities in desperation introduced a moth species that is prickly pear's natural predator. It ate its way through the cactus population to everyone's great relief!

[irina]

Interesting. If I could I would have an Asian pear tree. I love those.

You mention crunchy and juicy. The pears I am used to turn very soft and juicy and messy. (No way Lizzie had lily white hands after eating pears in the barn. Nobody is that fastidious.)

The prickly pear cactus we have native to the southwest has a delicious fruit and the pads (leaves) can be eaten. In hard times the thorns can be singed off the pads and then they are used for cattle feel. I love both the fruit and pads but they are tricky to harvest.

[Curryong]

As far as prickly pear is concerned the famous botanist Sir Joseph Banks, who is very important to Australia's beginnings, wanted to establish a cochineal industry. British soldiers wore red coats (as you know!!) and Sir Joseph thought cochineal would make an important export for the new colony. So when the Second Fleet sailed from England loaded down with convicts, sheep, cattle and everything else that would be needed (boy, was that an undertaking!) cochineal-infested prickly pear was among the plants they picked up when they stopped off in Brazil.

No one knows really what happened to those plants. The colonists had a really hard time in those first years and the industry never really got going. There are a few remnants on the New South Wales coast.

However, the prickly pear (common pear) that caused all the trouble and devastated the rural landscape on the East Coast for decades was a different species. There were Acts passed in Parliament to try and settle the problem. At one stage it was advancing at the rate of one million acres a year. It was often used as cattle food in drought. Tiger prickly pear also proved a problem.

I think Asian pears are healthy. They taste a bit like apples, and are very crisp and crunchy and high in fibre. Eating them helps stabilise blood sugar levels. We have, beside Asian fruit, eight varieties of pears available in Australia, from January to November, peak month being March.

[debbiediablo]

Irina, I mentioned this to Curryong already. Semi-green tomatoes ripen beautifully in a brown grocer's bag that's folded over at the top...much, much better than when picked and left in the sun. I don't know if this would also work with pears, but it might...or might not. Years ago there was a neighborhood pear tree next to a barn down the road. The people who owned it allowed everyone to pick; the tree was incredibly bountiful and produced wonderfully juicy fruit. It was huge and old...have no idea what kind. Then one spring it was dead. We're in the northern-most end of the state where the winters are harsh. This was and is the only decent pear tree I've seen locally.

[irina]

I never thought about cochineal making the red coats. I always wondered why British troops wore red coats since I was under the impression red dye was difficult to make.

Tomatoes ripen that way because they make their own acetylene gas. Pears seem to need time. Once they reach the right point they turn yellow and sweet fairly rapidly. They seem to vary from year to year also. This year's pears are bigger~as were this year's huckleberries. There must have been rain at the right time and not the wrong time. The bigger pears this year take longer to come off the tree and ripen. The ones I picked in the antique orchard are still green as a gourd so to speak.

[Curryong]

Green as a gourd? You ought to come to Australia!'smile'.

[debbiediablo]

Now you've me reading about pears, too. An article about ripening pears says put them in the bag with a banana which also makes ethylene gas, but be careful not to allow to over ripen. They go from green to gone very quickly.

[irina]

I was thinking a couple days ago that ripe pears and green gauge plums are like manna in the bible. If you don't use them at the peak of perfection they become completely spoiled and that is a matter of less than a day.

[mbhenty]

Well, this is not about pears, but about ale.

Not sure if I have posted this before, but I get a kick out of it.

It's brewed once a year, by the Buzzards Bay Brewing Co. in Westport, MA, which is the town which borders and is south of fall river.

Below is the description of the beer by Buzzards.

Very funny.



Lizzie’s Famous “81 Whacks” India Red Ale
Welcome to our mysteriously popular hoppy red ale which we brew once a year. Deep sanguine color couched in aromas of birch, toffee, citrus, beachplum and roasted nuts. Lizzie has killer hops throughout with a lingering and dry Maplecroft finish. Whacked with pale malt, two black malts and hopped with Warrior, Centennial; judiciously dry-hopped with Palisade, Ahtenum and Cascades.
OG: 15.5 Plato / 6.4% Alc
IBU: 45

[irina]

Hilarious!

[twinsrwe]

Now that is funny, mb!!! Thank you for posting the delightful description of this beer; it just cracked me up!

[mbhenty]

Thanks guys!

I've been to the Buzzards Bay Brewery many times. They are located on old farmland in a big barn. Nice people. Like most small local breweries across the US, you can go in and sample the beer before making purchase.

They have several other beers in addition to the Lizzie beer, also with funny names, Like Number 2 Pencil, and Boo Ale, Dr.Fowler's Funk Draft, Swamp Yankee IPA and Moby Dick.