Pears, Anjou

Anjou pears are best suited for both eating fresh, and for cooking/baking. When the pears are firm, they are excellent grilled or roasted, and added to salads or sandwiches. As they ripen and get softer, have them with some cheese and charcuterie, or blend them into a smoothie or sauce.

They hold their shape well when heated, so they can be poached, baked, and added into desserts and salads. The can be dried, canned, and frozen for longer storage and use in the off-season months.

Pears have been cultivated in cool and temperate climates since antiquity and cannot be traced to a single origin. They have been farmed in China since 2,000 BC. There are thousands of varieties that ground around the world today, but the Bartlett Pear is thought to have originated from either France or England, and was imported into the United States in 1799 by James Carter. They were planted on the grounds of Thomas Brewer in Roxbury, Massachusetts, which was later bought by Enoch Bartlett of Dorchester, Massachusetts, who named them after himself.