It’s Saturday morning and I think it’s a good time to experience a little bit of the world of pears, shall we?

Today, I am experimenting (operative word experimenting) the baking of 3 kinds of pears: Anjou, Bosc, and Asian.

• Pears have an average of 100 calories and roughly 25 grams of carbs.
• They have about 30% more potassium than apples
• b/c of their denseness they deliver more nutrition per calorie than calorie per nutrition.
• They are also a good source of fiber and Vitamins C and E

Here is a photo of the 3 pears in order: Anjou, Bosc and Asian.

A little about each pear:

The Anjou:

1. Their skin is yellow-green or light green, and they have tender, juicy flesh that is less granular than other types.

2. They have a thin skin with many notable lenticles, or pores, which allow the exchange of gases with the atmosphere (think pesticides here!).

3. The Anjou is truly an all-purpose pear. They are juicy when ripe, and their subtle sweetness hints at a refreshing lemon-lime flavor. Their dense flesh holds up well in heated applications like baking, poaching, roasting, or grilling.

The Bosc

1. First planted in the US in 1832 or 1833, and first bore fruit in 1836. First plantied in the eastern U.S.,  but now Bosc are grown largely in the Northwest, as the trees were found to thrive best in the soil and climate of the Pacific Northwest states of Oregon and Washington.

2. They tend be denser and fleshier, and unlike other pears, their skin can deliver a little bit of spice in its own flavor! They are sweeter earlier on in the ripening stage that other pears.

3. Many artists feature the Bosc pear in their paintings, drawings, and photography because of the natural beauty it imparts with it’s long stems, warm colors and idyllic pear shape.

Asian Pears

1. These are entirely different from European pears. They are crispy, round and firmer.

2. Two most common are Chinese and Japanese. Japanese are the most used and consumed in the US.

3. Asian pears are known for keeping well.  Store at room temp for a week, or up to 3 months in the fridge!!

1. Peel and cut pear in half and core it.  Place it in a shallow baking pan.

(again pears are placed in same order)

2. mix butter, honey, cinnamon and brown sugar.

3 tbl spoons butter

2 tbl spoons honey

dashes cinnamon

2 tbls spoons brown sugar

3. drizzle onto pears!

4. It took about 40 minutes for my pears to bake at 375.

We sported ours with whipped cream, chocolate, and some homemade crepes!

And the results are in!

The Anjou was the best. It absorbed the flavor the most and baked the softest. The Asian probably should stick to salads or other like dishes that can compliment it’s crispiness (even baked!). The Bosc fell somewhere in the middle.

This entry was posted on Saturday, November 14th, 2009 at 9:38 am and is filed under Food & Nutrition. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.