FOOD | Julianne Glatz

Pity the poor pear. Each autumn, apples get all the attention. It’s just not fair. Sure, pears show up in cooking publications, but they always seem to take a back seat to apples. That’s a shame, because pears eaten in their season, ripened mostly on the tree instead of being gassed into a semblance of ripeness, are succulent, sweet and utterly delicious.

There are more than 3,000 varieties of pears worldwide, but only a relative few produce edible fruit. Most of the pears produced in the U.S. are grown in the Pacific Northwest, but this time of year they can also be found in local produce and farmers markets.

Some pears, such as the Comice (which I always think of as Harry and David pears) have luscious textures that don’t take well to cooking; others, such as Boscs, have firmer flesh. Pears such as Bartletts, Reds and the tiny Sekels fall somewhere in between. The globular Asian, or Korean, pear is relatively new in U.S. markets. Though it’s a true pear, it almost seems like a cross between a pear and an apple.

One variety I’ve been searching for is the Lincoln pear. It’s something my mom has talked about for years: “There was a Lincoln pear tree at my Grandma Steven’s house,” she says. “The Lincolns looked like Bartletts, but when we picked them they were hard. We’d wrap them in paper and store them in the cellar. Even when they were hard, I loved them; they were crisp like an apple. On winter evenings when we’d pop popcorn, Grandma would bring them up from the cellar and we’d eat them with the popcorn. By then they were completely ripe and even more delicious.”

I’ve searched the Internet to find a source for the trees. They’re mentioned, but mostly by people also looking, and so far as I’ve been able to find, not sold by nurseries; nor have I come across anything that explains how they came by their name.

Hopefully I’ll someday find a Lincoln pear tree, but until then I’ll happily enjoy other pears every fall.

Contact Julianne Glatz at [email protected].