Once upon a time there was a very nice pear called William and I cooked him and ate him…and all of his family. As a peary tale, it’s grimm, but there it is; it’s rare for a pear to have a happy ending. The relationship between man and pear, fruitful as it may be, is, of necessity, brief. A delicious pear is an elusive beast. A body can painstakingly choose each fruit, mindful of colour, scent and form, then carefully pack them so as to ensure that they remain without bruise or blemish on the journey home, yet still suffer bitter disappointment as teeth sink into an insubstantial, watery delusion. Such is the disingenuousness of many a seductive looking pear. The Williams, lying cheek by jowl with some very disappointing Conference pears, in the picture above were models of firm, scented and delicious juiciness making them paragons of peardom.
I had recently read on “Manger”, a very elegantly presented blog, a deliciously simple recipe, with pears which sealed the fate of William and his nearest and dearest.
Pears cooked in butter with flaked almonds and served with a salt caramel sauce sounded wonderful and so it turned out to be.
Food, Photography & France 
What a nice pear 😉
If you like a firm pair, Sir:)
No pear. You took all the good puns
I blame my pearants:)
Ha!
You are right about pears. One does not know how tasty they are until the bite into them. These four William pears are bound to be delicious – and met a very happy fate with a “pearing” of salted caramel! I like that this recipe is seasonal. Beautiful photos! – Shanna
Excellent….I had missed “pearing”;)
I am very punny at times. 🙂 I am enjoying your blog – the prose and the recipes. A very happy, healthy new year to you and yours. Warm regards, Shanna
Thanks, Shanna, and a very Happy New Year to you and yours:)
Any pear paired with chocolate is a marriage made in heaven. But I’ll have to try the caramel, looks yummy!
The caramel is delicious..really:)
My poor Asian pears will receive this treatment as soon as I get home. Yum yum.
They’ll be going soft in their bowl as I write this…pears can be very spiteful:)
I’ve given up on pears, for all the reasons you cite. But this looks like reason enough to give them another chance.
Go for it, Michelle:)
Love the Manger blog – sigh.
Wonderful use of pears and caramel and gorgeous photos too!
It’s a good blog, isn’t it
Mmm yes. Pears can be such a disappointment raw. But with marriages like yours that you wrote about here, or with red wine, or with chocolate, it’s such a different story. Tantalising photos too. Good enough to eat.
It appears so:)
My luck with pears is so mixed but this post and recipe makes me think I need to try again.
Good…don’t despear!
Anjou being silly? 😄
Excellent….I should have seen that one…I shall have to write a bit more about pears so that I can use it:)
A peary good idea… I best stop now before things go all pear shaped…..
..or all good sense will disappear:)
Ha! 🙂
They look delicious.
I rarely buy pears as they are usually too hard or too soft.
Oh for a pear tree and garden of my own (Sigh).
Sounds nice….something for the peartridge to pearch:)
Hmm, a totally unsophisticated child am I ! Walk past one said fruit bowl, reach hand in said bowl, curse the juice I seem to drop everywhere whilst walking around with said pear to slip the tiny remnants where they belong . . . should really give said pear a little more respect perchance . . .
Pears have a mind of their own, that’s for sure:)
And then, William was no more. He was an ex-pear.
Personnification can be a heartbreaking business, Roger.
This Vale of Pears:)
😀
OMG… I got the joke !
Excellent…:)
You clever wordsmith, you. Gorgeous photos, too. And thanks for the heads-up on Manger. Gosh, what a beautiful blog that is!
Many thanks…and yes, Manger is worth looking at…regularly:)
The “salt caramel sauce” and “cooked in butter” in one sentence sounds too tempting!
Tonight I was served very pleasant pickles made from pear and pineapple in a Portuguese-Malaccan restaurant in Malacca, Malaysia. I did not order it but it was either like a small starter that everyone got or something that I got because of what I ordered, a steamed white fish (turned out to be huge) cooked in different spices but mostly chili based, like chutney that you would get with your curry though the pickles I had were solid and very lightly pickled.
Love the sound of that pickle…I think I shall look into that and give it a go. I’m very envious of your dinner in Malacca…very exotic:)
I later found out that my fish was “baked” rather than “steamed”. Either way, very tasty. I don’t even like vinegary food but the pickles were nice…
Sounds good to me just being in an exotic restaurant in Malacca….baked or steamed…..I’d be stoked 🙂
What an elegant and tasty looking dessert.
Many thanks, Greg, it’s one I can highly recommend.
I love reading your writing.. your pictures aren’t bad.. though i have said that before and do not wish to swell your head, one needs to be able to fits ones hats at this time of year. I have never made a salt caramel sauce, I shall go back and investigate further.. c
Salt caramel is big here, and has been for many years because of all the artisan sea salt production.They still use the old Gallo-Roman salt pans on the Ile de Re.Salt caramel has now become very big everywhere…it is a very good combination of flavours well worth trying:)
I look forward to having a go.. is it in the same genre as salt taffy?.. c
I’ve just googled “salt taffy” and it looks like a hard sweet/candy to me. Salt caramel sauce,in this recipe, is a simple caramel sauce made salty with salted butter.They do have salt caramel sweets/candy here which are like salt taffy…I guess you could melt salt taffy to make quite a good salt caramel sauce.
Oh yum, I happen to have two pears sitting on my counter. This sounds like a delicious way of using them…thank you Roger.
Go to it, Karen:)
Definitely…it is on tomorrow’s to do list. 🙂
🙂
Would this work with nutella? I pear all recipes down to bare essentials while on holidays…
Pearing recipes down, eh? It’ll be nice with Nutella, but not as nice:)
Oh here again, another seductive simple joy of deliciousness!!!!! Wish you an amazing year 2014 filled with joy and happiness, and always a full glass of red or white.
Cheers, Cornelia,let’s hope we all have a good 2014:)
This post makes it readily appearant that a good dish needn’t be a complicated one. It was cleverly written and beautifully photographed. Good one, Roger.
Many thanks for the praise, John. Have a happy Hew Year and a good celebration on the Eve 🙂
I usually like my pears barely ripe, crisp, hard, and green, but this just might make me change my mind.
I love pears like that with Parmesan or other cheeses…crisp Conference are my choice in that area. But Williams are great for desserts:)
Pearfectly gorgeous – the dish, the words, the photos! Am having a bit of a love affair (or love a-pear) right now with salted caramel.
MMMMHHHHH!
I have four pears sitting on the side. This recipe is pearfect. (Groan)
Just seen someone has pipped me to the post!
It would appear so:)
I have a bit of a “Pear” fetish and this post is just my kind of thing. I often blog about pears & pear recipes so it just is great to have your great recipe and lovely photos to encourage my addiction.
Happy New Year.
Thanks for checking out my blog…glad to have found yours. Happy New Year:)
Must now run to the store and buy some pears. This looks so wonderful, Roger.
While you’re there, buy a bottle of Poire William ….it makes pear dishes even better:)