The Great Peariment 2008™: Round 1

A few weeks ago, Dave and I were walking through the Central Market produce section, lamenting the end of summer berries.

“Maybe we should switch to apples… or pears,” he said.

And then we realized there was an assortment of pears that we’d never tried… in various shades of red, green, and yellow… some tall and thin, some short and stout.

We collected samples of each, documented them with photos, and started planning…

Our judging criteria:

• Was it sweet or tart?
• How ’bout the texture?
• It would go well with…
• Celebrity it most reminds us of…

On Monday, October 13, The Great Peariment 2008 began.

Round 1: Forelle vs. Asian Pear[Forelle on the left, Asian on the right]

Forelle

• firm texture and a pretty red exterior
• browned quickly after cutting
• unpleasant texture described as “mealy”
• skin was tough
• flesh was somewhat sweet

One of the subjects (me) rejected the pear from her mouth forcefully. (Yeah, I spit it out.)

We decided that it would be good with… nothing. “Perhaps a stew?” (That’s Dave, being optimistic. I spit it out… and I’d do it again.)

The celebrity that it most reminded us of was… Courtney Love.

Asian Pear

• deceptively bland butter-yellow exterior
• pleasing, bright white interior
• comes in a cute little mesh jacket (I like a fashionable fruit.)
• fairly juicy with a texture like jicama
• sweet and pleasant to eat

I liked it so much, I went back for seconds.

We decided it would be good with walnuts and bleu cheese, or maybe tossed into a salad with some chicken. Then Stacey and I brainstormed yesterday that we could put thin slices on a toasted tortilla with some cheese, heat it up, then top with an arugula salad.
Cool on top of hot and crispy = awesome.

The celebrity that it most reminded us of was… Joan Cusak (a somewhat deceptive exterior for a really awesome interior).

Stay tuned for the second installment of The Great Peariment 2008 tomorrow.