What’s your favorite pear? The common Bartlett? The crisp Bosc? How about the Comice, or Forelle or Seckle?
My new favorite might just be the Starkrimson Pear. Sweet, super juicy when ripe and flat-out gorgeous with a deep red skin and yellow flesh, these are going to stand out from among the sea of green pears flooding the fall markets.
[1]They are similar to a Red Barlett and are good either eaten out of hand or used in cooking. This pear is very pretty sliced into a salad or on an appetizer cheese plate. See a few other suggestions below for ways to use them.
Ripe: It should have a little “give'” when you handle it, which means the sugars are emerging.
Storage: Store at room temperature, then slightly chill in refrigerator for 4 hours for best eating.
These beauties, which were introduced commercially nearly a decade ago but haven’t had their due fame yet, are in season from September through November. They come from Oregon in Sept./Oct., and the state of Washington in Oct./Nov. They cost about $2.99 a pound.
Suggestions for use
Thanks to Melissa’s Produce [6] for sending over a sample of this fruit for testing.