according to when they’re harvested and their
traditional storage life (now extended by
controlled atmospheres and temperatures).
Summer pears like the Bartlett (also called
Williams or Bon chretien) are harvested in
July and August and keep for one to three
months; autumn pears like the Bosc and
Comice are harvested in September and
October and keep two to four months; and
winter pears like the Anjou and Winter Nellis
are harvested in October and November and
keep six to seven months.
Quince Quinces, fruit of the central Asian
tree Cydonia oblonga, give us a taste of what
apples and pears might have been like in their
primitive form. They are gritty with stone
cells, astringent, and hard even when ripe. But
they have a distinctive, flowery aroma (thanks
to lactones and violet-like ionones, all derived
from carotenoid molecules) that’s especially
concentrated in the fuzzy yellow skin. And