A PEAR BY ANY OTHER NAME
■ Everyone’s familiar with pears: They’re aromatic and sweet, and they melt in your mouth with each slurping bite. They’re so familiar that their signature shape is, well, pear-shaped; technically, the shape’s name is “pyriform,” which is Latin for “pear-shaped.”
When people picture pears, they may think of European pears. However, there’s another sister in the family: the Asian pear (Pyrus pyrifolia). In Latin, that means “pear-leafed pear.” (Sometimes botanists have a gift for the obvious.) Asian pears have several other common names, including “apple pears,” “sand pears,” “Korean pears,” “Japanese pears,” and “nashi.”
Unlike their European sisters, Asian pears are round and crunchy, but they’re just as juicy and flavorful. They have surprisingly large fruit, often as big as—if not bigger than—a ripe grapefruit. A few cultivars have flesh sprinkled with small, gritty “stone” cells (hence the common name “sand pear”), but most are grit-free. Asian pears are rarely used in pies or preserves, but instead are eaten fresh out of hand or sliced and added to salads. Asian pears ripen perfectly on the tree and are at their best when left to do so.
