The Perfect Pear
Food & Drink February 18th, 2010
The truth is that pears are in season for much of the year, but since they are among the only fruits that are ripe and beautiful—and utterly delicious—in the dead of winter, we’ve come to think of them as winter treats. And they are.
They are also extraordinarily easy to work with. Toss slices with watercress and butter lettuce, toasted walnuts and Roquefort for a marvelous salad. Roast them with fresh thyme alongside pork (with fennel) or duck (with parsnips) for a soulful winter supper—and amazing pan juices. Poach them in red wine and sugar and accompany with heavy cream or crème anglaise flavored with a bit of chopped fresh rosemary for an elegant dessert.
Pears are also naturals with cheese and wine. Pair a sweet Comice with Stilton and port and an aromatic Bartlett with Gewurtraminer and Brie or Pinot Grigio and Asiago. The list of combinations are endless. Earthy, honey-sweet Boscs are marvelous with aged white Cheddar. Or gild the lily by making the superb Pear Tarte Tatin from The Chez Panisse Menu Cookbook and serve it with the cheddar instead.
At Danny Meyer’s consistently wonderful Manhattan restaurants (Gramercy Tavern, Blue Smoke, The Modern, and Eleven Madison Park, just to name a handful) there is great emphasis on seasonal ingredients. Butternut Squash Custard with Pear and Pine Nuts is currently among the appetizer offerings at Gramercy Tavern, for example, and the bar menus are no different. Gramercy’s bar features a “Jalisco Pear,” made with Herradura Silver tequila, pear liqueur, and lemon, while Blue Smoke offers “The Hayride,” composed of small-batch bourbon, pear liqueur, and Blue Smoke spiced apple cider. Our favorite, though, is the “Winter Solstice,” an elegant but bracing cocktail, from Meyer’s book Mix Shake Stir, that is just the thing to get you through to spring.
Winter Solstice
Yield: 1 drink
Ice
1 1/4 oz. brandy
1 3/4 oz. Rosemary-infused pear nectar
2/3 oz Grand Marnier or other orange liqueur
1 small sprig fresh rosemary
Fill a cocktail shaker with ice. Add the brandy, pear nectar, and Grand Marnier and shake vigorously. Strain into a chilled martini glass, garnish with the rosemary sprig, and serve.
ROSEMARY-INFUSED PEAR NECTAR
Yield: 1 1/2 cups, or enough for 6 drinks
1 1/2 cups good-quality pear nectar such as Kern’s
5 sprigs fresh rosemary
In a jar, combine the pear nectar and rosemary. Cover and refrigerate for at least 12 hours or up to 2 days. Remove and discard the rosemary before using. The infused nectar will keep, covered in the refrigerator, for up to 4 days.
Pear Tarte Tatin
From The Chez Panisse Menu Cookbook
Serves 10 to 12
For the Crust:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon sugar
1/8 teaspoons salt
5 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter
3 to 5 tablespoons ice water
Mix 1 tablespoon sugar and 1/8 teaspoon salt into 1 cup of flour. Cut 5 1/2 tablespoons butter into small pieces and cut them in the flour until the pieces of dough are the size of small peas. Add 3 tablespoons of ice water and gather up the dough. If it does not hold together, sprinkle with a tablespoon or two of ice water. When the dough just holds together, flatten it into a round about 5 inches in diameter, and cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
For the Filling:
5 to 6 pounds Comice or Bosc pears, a little underripe (there should be 14 cups of pear slices)
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup melted butter
1 to 2 tablespoons half-and-half
Peel and core 5 to 6 pounds Comice or Bosc pears and cut each pear into twelfths. Measure 14 cups sliced pears into a large bowl and toss them with 1/4 cup sugar.
Pour 1/4 cup melted butter into a 12-inch-cast-iron skillet or tarte tatin pan and sprinkle with 1/4 cup sugar. Place the pear slices in concentric circles, a layer at a time. Pour 1/4 cup butter over the pears.
Roll out the crust to about a 13 1/2-inch-diameter circle. Trim the uneven edges to leave about an inch of overhand around the pears. urn the extra dough under and cut several slits or small holes in the crust so the steam can escape. Bake the tarte in a preheated 450 degree oven for 10 minutes. Brush the crust with about 1 tablespoon of half-and-half. Bake another 15 to 20 minutes, until the crust is deep golden brown.
Remove the tarte from the oven and remove excess juice with a bulb baster. There should be about 1/2 inch of juice left in the bottom of the pan. Put the pan on top of the stove over the highest heat. Cook the tarte, revolving it frequently, until the bottom caramelizes, about 10 to 15 minutes.
The edge of the tarte will caramelize before the bottom does, so the tarte will smell almost burned. Keep loosening the sides of the tarte with a spatula while it is caramelizing so that they do not stick.
Cool the tarte for 15 minutes before unmolding. After the tarte has cooled, loosen it again with a spatula. Invert a large flat serving plate oever the tarte pan, set the plate on a table, and lift the pan off the tarte.
Pictured above, left: A detail from “Three Pears and An Apple” by Edward Steichen, a Gift of the Photographer to The Museum of Modern Art, and currently on view at The Baltimore Museum of Art in a show called “Cezanne and American Modernism, “ on view through May 23, 2010, and in the book by the same name published by Yale University Press.
Right: The “Winter Solstice” in William Yeoward’s Lulu Martini glass in Amber, available at Corzine & Co. on TAIGAN.
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