Receta Canadian Food Experience Project Challenge Six – The Pear Harvest
The topic for the sixth Canadian Food Experience Project challenge is ‘The Harvest’. This year, our more than 30 year old pear tree, produced an abundance of Bartlett pears. It was one of the best harvests yet. There were enough pears to share with family and friends, make some amazing desserts, and for the first time I made pear sauce. Also, there were quite a few neighborhood squirrels rustling the leaves in the tree as they chose which pears to eat, and bees buzzing around any pears that fell to the ground.
In late spring our pear tree is in full bloom and by late summer it produces the most wonderful pears. Unfortunately, this year two branches snapped off as it could not support the weight of the pears. As a result, we started picking the pears earlier than usual to avoid any more damage to our treasured pear tree.
When the last of the pears were picked, our pear tree looked bare and tired. There were still a few squirrels climbing up the tree searching for pears to munch, and the bees ready to attack any fallen pears. It is with the last harvest of pears that I made pear sauce for the first time.
First I washed the pears, and then quartered them and did not remove the skins, the seeds or stems. I placed them in a large Dutch oven, filled it with 1 cup of water and let the pears cook down until they were soft.
I then processed the pears through my electric tomato machine which I used to make tomato purée. There were enough pears to make 12 half pint jars. I did not add any sugar to the pear sauce as the pears were sweet enough. I did however add cinnamon to half of the jars as it is one of my favourite spices.
I add pear sauce to my yogurt and use it as a substitute for applesauce, bananas, or pumpkin in recipes with great results. I cannot eat the pears right off the tree as I have an allergy to most raw fruits, but I can eat them cooked which is a good thing. Sometimes I am so tempted to take just one bite…
When we moved into our home over thirty years ago, our pear tree was already planted and producing pears. It has survived severe rain and snow storms, even the ice storm in 1998. I treasure our pear tree with its beautiful white blooms in the spring that turn into the beautiful pears that we harvest at the end of summer.
Pear recipes
These are some of the recipes my family enjoyed that were made using our pears.
Valerie from A Canadian Foodie founded the Canadian Food Experience Project which began June 7 2013. The participants share their collective stories across the vastness of our Canadian landscape through our regional food experiences. We hope to bring global clarity to our Canadian culinary identity through the cadence of our concerted Canadian voice.