"This Apple Pear is F***ing delicious but is it a pear or is it an apple?", I said to myself while eating it and then I wrote it just now, quite lovely!
The Apple Pear or Asian Pear is not a pear/apple hybrid at all. It is just a pear but with many of the good qualities of an apple.
Apple Pears are an old pear variety brought from China to the west coast during the gold rush days and have been cultivated in Asia for 3000 years. They have a light-yellow or tan colored skin, white flesh and a shape like an apple.
Apple Pears ripen on the tree and are ready to eat when harvested unlike other types of pears where you have to wait forever for them to ripen, maybe utilizing a paper bag, storing them room temperature, crossing your fingers, praying, using voodoo, continually squeezing them. As the skin of your average pear gets more brown, battered and bruised, you might take a bite and realize it's still not ready or you've waited too long, aarrrrgh! Finding the right window to eat it sometimes seems like a pain in the ass!
Apple Pears have a great shelf life. They will be fine 10 to 14 days at room temperature and 3 to 4 weeks in the refrigerator and they are slow to brown when cut open.
In Chinese medicine, Apple Pears are used for detoxification, coughs, laryngitis, ulcers and constipation.
Even though it is not an apple, this early Fall fruit is phat stacks good, yo! It has a thin skin with a snappy, crisp bite. It is juicy and has a slight floral aroma. The flavor is that of a good pear with medium sweetness and notes of honeydew and Honey Crisp apple. Try one of these damn things, I think you'll like it!
My next blog will feature the Cortland. Crunch on!
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