Anjou And Flemish Beauty Pears
I remember finding a recipe for mashed potatoes with roasted Flemish pears and sausages. The uncommon combination featured Italian sausage, dry pear wine, garlic, shallots, red bell peppers, basil, crushed red pepper and olive oil. I had to substitute Bartlett pears for the Flemish, but man, oh man, I never looked at a pear the same way again!
- 4 lbs ripe Anjou pears
- 2 lbs finely granulated sugar
- 3-1/2 quarts water (more or less)
- 2 tsp acid blend
- 1/2 tsp pectic enzyme
- 1/4 tsp grape tannin
- 1 crushed Campden tablet
- 1 tsp yeast nutrient
- 1 packet Champagne yeast
The Beurre d’Anjou, or Pyrus communis, is an interesting variety that has no superior when it comes to appearance and quality. Unlike many other varieties of pears, d’Anjou is neither self-fruitful nor does it set fruit
parthenocarpically. Thus, it relies mostly on other pear varieties for pollination. John and Doretta are lucky to have a Flemish Beauty tree to compliment their Anjou, as the two polinate at roughly the same time.
The d’Anjou pear hangs on the tree longer than most table varieties and only ripens after being picked and set in cold storage for a month or more. The freshly picked d’Anjou pears can be made into wine, but will not have the flavor of those set aside to ripen properly.