One of our favorite treats is a fine pear and a bit of cheese – it can just be very, very hard to find that fine pear. A pear, in our humble opinion, should be no firmer than cool butter, and juicy enough to require a napkin.
After tasting too many disappointing examples from our local markets, I’ve resolved to confine our pear purchases to Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s – both a bit of the drive, but both also filled with enough other temptations to make the journey worthwhile.
We picked up the perfectly butter hard and nicely juicy Bosc and the as yet untried but eagerly anticipated Red Anjou, along with the VERY nice Petit Basque cheese over the weekend on our way home from a trip into Chicago to catch a matinee at the Shakespeare Theater on Navy Pier (Murder for Two – great fun, and extended through July 31 – you should go if you can!) – the Bosc and the cheese at Whole Foods, and the Anjou at TJ’s – along with some low acid French roast coffee beans and some chipotle pepper hummus – so in the grand scheme of things, our trek for pears was really (I apologize in advance)…
fruitful.