[Sca-cooks] Period pear varieties?

[Johnna Holloway]

The pear varieties in the 16th and 17th  centuries should be
listed in
John Gerald's /The Herbal Or General History of Plants/. 1597. 1633. 
Revised and Enlarged by Thomas Johnson. New York: Dover Publications, 1975.

and/or

John Parkinson's /A Garden of Pleasant Flowers. Paradisa in Sole 
Paradisus Terrestris/. 1629. New York: Dover, 1976, 1991.

 I did the article on apples but didn't look at pear varieties. I am 
under the impression that we don't see
the books that feature pears in the same way that we see books on apples 
appearing in the 17th centuries.


Those small seckel pears are good candied. Peel them and immerse them in 
a sugar syrup and let them slowly
simmer until they sugared.
More tips here: *http://www.usapears.com/pears/varieties_seckel.asp

Johnnae
*
Jennifer Carlson wrote:
> All the discussion of period apples has got me wondering about pears.  Here in Oklahoma, we only get Bartlett's (green and red), d'Anjou, and Bosc.  For the first time yesterday I found seckle (sp?), which were tiny and wonderfully sweet but with a bitterish skin.  Is this a period variety?  Are any period varieties of pears available in the U.S.?
>  
> Talana
> Still cursing who ever bought up my local grocer's ENTIRE stock of quinces this season.
>