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Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Fragrant Pears

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Date: Wed, 2011 Apr 27, 1800hrs
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This is one of my favorite fruits and I don't like fruits much. My mom calls them 'Honey Pears' but I think they're actually called 'Fragrant Pears'. It's always sweet (but not too sweet) and I have yet to taste one that will disappoint me in it's sweetness. I'm trying to find out more about it... and I did find more... more people liking this pear as well.
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Here's what it looks like...
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Tuesday, January 27th, 2009

Peek…a…boo!

Its official name is the Fragrant pear, but I like to call it the Peekaboo pear. Crisp, juicy, and subtly sweet, the Fragrant pear fits easily into the palm of my hand (and is smaller than several varieties of pear commonly found in American supermarkets, like the Bartlett). I find it elegant in appearance, and delicate in smell as well. (If the Fragrant pear's scent was bottled as a perfume, it'd be one you'd want to keep sniffing instead of washing off at the first opportunity.)

I ate a Fragrant pear a few weeks ago (not the one pictured) that was one of the best pieces of fruit I've ever eaten. I'm about to repeat myself, but that pear was crisp and juicy, and delicately sweet in taste and smell, and something more. A lot more.

2 comments:

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tigerlille says:
January 29, 2009 at 8:39 am
Hi Cindy,
I just clicked on your site from Pioneer Woman. I think I am going to be reading this blog regularly. My money situation is so tight that I am not inclined to experiment with the unknown at the Asian market. After reading your description of the fragrant pear, I am ready to dash out and pick up a few. Thank you! Are you Asian?

2
Asian Aisle says:
January 29, 2009 at 4:59 pm
Tigerlille: Thanks for your comment (don't you just love PW?). Yes, I am Asian and live in the United States. I'm glad to post Asian items on this site that are new to some people—that's my goal, along with showing familiar products. I hope you find some good Fragrant pears. I've eaten one that was super delicious, as I mentioned, and had others that weren't quite as yummy. But they're generally pretty good.
- Cindy

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Fragrant pears originated in far western China in the Xinjiang region and has been prized in Asia for over a thousand years. These small and roughly oval fruits have thin edible skin that are jade green in color with reddish patches.They are as crisp as Asian pears but are incredibly juicy and sweet as well. Because of their unique shape, flavor and fragrance, fragrant pears are regarded as distinguished fruits to present loved ones in China. They will keep sweet for months if refrigerated.

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From Silk Road to Supermarket, China's Fragrant Pears
By DAVID KARP
Published: November 15, 2006

JADE-GREEN Fragrant pears, with exotic provenance and a legendary reputation, have arrived in the United States for the first time after a journey that evokes Marco Polo.

The pears, as crisp as Asian pears but juicy and sweet like more familiar varieties, originated in far western China in the Xinjiang region. The area accounts for only 3 percent of China's pear crop, but the Fragrant variety, which its farmers have cultivated for 1,300 years, is esteemed as the country's finest, and fetches twice the price of other pears there.

The Fragrant pears, which have been exported to the United States since last month, are grown around Korla, a stop on the ancient Silk Road that is now an oil boomtown with more than 420,000 residents. West of the Gobi Desert and north of the Taklimakan Desert, Korla draws water from the Konqi or Peacock River, which flows south from the Tian Shan Mountains.

In recent decades Chinese government policy and market reforms have encouraged farmers to sharply increase pear production, which is expected to reach 12.5 million metric tons this year, more than two-thirds of the world's supply. Virtually all are Asian pears, crunchy and ripe off the tree, not the European kind, such as Bartlett and Bosc, which develop their desired buttery texture and rich flavor after harvest.

Fragrant pears are fairly small and roughly oval, with long stems. The light green or yellow skin, with a reddish blush on some fruits, is thin and readily edible; the flesh is extraordinarily tender, crisp and juicy. The flavor is delicate, and different from that of most Asian pears, with a whiff of the "pear ester," ethyl decadienoate, which gives European varieties their characteristic aroma. Ready to eat after harvest in September, they can keep in commercial storage for up to a year.

Xinjiang lies at the intersection of the ranges of Asian pears — which are mostly grown in China, Korea and Japan — and European pears, which evolved later in the Caucasus Mountains and Asia Minor. The botanical identity of Fragrant pears has long been unclear, and Chinese trade documents describe them as resembling the European species. In a study published in 2001, however, scientists analyzed the variety's molecular markers and determined that it is a complex hybrid of the two main European and Asian species, along with Pyrus armeniacifolia, a little-known Xinjiang species with small fruits and leaves similar to apricot foliage.

Xinjiang's political situation is unsettled, as an influx of Han, China's main ethnic group, has fed separatist agitation and terrorism by the mostly Muslim Uighurs, who are now a minority in their homeland. Korla has long been renowned for its fruit — melons and grapes, as well as pears — and the Chinese government has sought to relieve economic pressures by promoting exports.

Chinese officials asked to export Fragrant pears to the United States in 1993, but American pear growers raised concerns that the imported fruit might introduce exotic plant pests and diseases. Only after repeated visits by Department of Agriculture scientists, pest risk assessments and revisions of inspection procedures did the department grant approval last December.

The only other Chinese pear allowed in the United States is the Yali (Ya) pear, or duck pear, a major commercial variety that is durable but mediocre, with tough flesh and bland flavor.

Jacky Chan, managing partner of YW International, a fruit importer, traveled to Korla twice this year to arrange for shipments of Fragrant pears.

"If I didn't go, they wouldn't have sent us the best quality," he said in an interview in his office in South El Monte, Calif., east of Los Angeles.

The lengthy journey taken by Fragrant pears may not endear them to environmentally conscious shoppers concerned with food miles. Mr. Chan, 29, said that workers at the packing house in Korla use air guns to clean the pears of insects and debris, check them with magnifying glasses, and then cushion them in tissue paper and foam mesh sleeves for the journey ahead: seven days by truck, over small roads as well as highways, to Shenzhen, a port near Hong Kong; two weeks by container ship to Long Beach, Calif.; and another five days by truck to New York.

Several other importers are bringing in the pears, which are available at grocery chains including Hong Kong Supermarkets in New York, 99 Ranch Markets in California and H-E-B stores in Texas; they are also expected to show up soon at fancy New York markets such as Agata & Valentina and Dean & DeLuca.

Knowing that Fragrant pears would soon arrive from China, John M. Wells, co-owner of Viewmont Orchards, in Hood River, Ore., visited China in 2004 and brought back cuttings of the variety, which he intends to propagate and plant next spring.

"I'm trying to figure out whether the tree will grow here," he said.

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Fragrant Pears

Posted by tructi 6/7 (My Page) on
Sun, Apr 22, 07 at 8:20





I just tasted a fragrant pear at the local asian supermarket and it's very good. Crisp and juicy and not too sweet. Similar to asian pear w/o the "butterscocth" taste. I'm wondering if anyone sells trees for planting. I've read that they were just recently allowed to sell the US from China. Thanks!!
Tim

Follow-Up Postings:

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RE: Fragrant Pears






Tim, I guess you are talking about a Chinese pear? They are a form of asian pear. Some asian pears have that butterscotch taste and some don't, it depends on the variety. I don't know any of the Chinese types having any butterscotch in their flavor. Two good chinese pears are Tsu Li and Ya Li. Several nurseries sell Chinese pears, I think One Green World and Raintree for example. Plus many other places I can't think of right now.
Scott


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RE: Fragrant Pears






Someone asked about these on another forum, and I found an article that David Karp wrote for the New York Times last November. ("From Silk Road to Supermarket, China's Fragrant Pears.")
A NYT subscription is required to read the full text on-line, but here are a few excerpts:
"The botanical identity of fragrant pears has long been unclear, and Chinese trade documents describe them as resembling the European species. In a study published in 2001, however, scientists analyzed the variety's molecular markers and determined that it is a complex hybrid of the two main European and Asian species, along with Pyrus armeniacifolia, a little-known Xianjing species with small fruits and leaves similar to apricot foliage."
Karp seems to like these pears much better than common Chinese pears like "Ya Li" (which he feels is "mediocre" in quality). Describing the flavor of these newly available fruits, he writes: "The flavor is delicate, and different from that of most Asian pears, with a whiff of the "pear ester", ethyl decadienoate, which gives European varieties their characteristic aroma."
So it sounds like this new type of pear is definitely worthwhile, and also rather unlike any of the cultivars currently grown in the U.S. (A "crunchy when ripe" pear with the European pear aroma.)
Unfortunately, I don't think that trees of this variety can currently be purchased in the U.S. (The Karp article does mention that one commercial grower obtained scionwood of this variety from China's Xinjiang Province a few years ago, and that he plans to start propagating more trees ... but I think that he is interesting in propagating trees for his own orchards, not in selling the plants.)


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RE: Fragrant Pears






They are in all the Chinese fruit markets here in NYC. Cost is about $1.25 a lb. They are crisp, sweet and juicy, but not much in the way of fragrance. I think Housi is better.
All the boxes are from China, writing is in Chinese and English. The provence they come from is listed, I just cant remember how to spell it. I will plant a few seeds in two weeks. I have some in the crisper for a 3 weeks now. I an hoping 5 weeks is enough stratification.


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RE: Fragrant Pears






I've got about 20 seedlings growing and I need to think of where to plant them all. :) How many years would it probably take to bear fruit?


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Sounds interesting - I haven't seen these pears here but will look.
Richard, I have a couple dozen apple seedlings that I grafted to a couple trees, so I am growing many varieties in a small space and will also hopefully get fruit a bit sooner. Burbank was well-known for employing this technique. With pears you could use quince as the stock and that would certainly speed up the time to fruit. Asians are also thankfully much faster to fruit than the Europeans. I'm not sure how compatible they are with quince, though.
The children will perhaps be quite different since the pollinator could well be a normal asian pear.
Scott


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RE: Fragrant Pears






Hey here is a longer article.. maybe this is what you read Ashok.

Here is a link that might be useful: More on fragrant pears

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RE: Fragrant Pears






Scott,
Yes, that's the article. It's quite an interesting read. Karp's pieces are always entertaining and informative.


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RE: Fragrant Pears






I just tried my first fragrant pear, my wife scored a dozen for me at the local asian grocery. Like TWM I would not call them super fragrant, but I am going to let them ripen some more to see if they improve.
BTW, my guess is these seeds are already fully stratified since the pears must have been in cold storage since last summer. I am saving the seeds in case they improve after ripening; they are not yet in my mind worth trying to grow myself.
Scott


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RE: Fragrant Pears






Scott, the ones I get have green crisp stems, giving the impression they were recently picked. If I did not have lots of space, I would not plant them either. I also want try taking material from a seedling grown one season, and grafting it on a mature tree to see how long it will take to fruit.


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RE: Fragrant Pears






TWM, if you go to the blog I linked above you will find that the harvest occurs in September - there are pictures of it. My stems are also green so I can only think that they must stay green for 6 months. I believe that all of these pears are grown in the same part of China.
Scott


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RE: Fragrant Pears






The Fragrant pears, as crisp as Asian pears but juicy and sweet like more familiar varieties, originated in far western China in the Xinjiang region. The area accounts for only 3 percent of China��s pear crop, but the Fragrant variety, which its farmers have cultivated for 1,300 years, is esteemed as the country��s finest, and fetches twice the price of other pears there.
I am from China and export fragrant pears and apples. I hope to find importers. My Email and MSN is benvictory@hotmail.com. Mobile number is +86 133 5696 9157.



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