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  • From: Ed Fackler <ed.fackler@gmail.com>
  • To: North American Fruit Explorers <nafex@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [NAFEX] Asian pears (was Atlantic Queen pear)
  • Date: Sat, 9 May 2009 10:54:17 -0400

Bill:

     That is a great story!  Thanks.  And you've nailed down the flavors of "Hardy Giant" (aka Olympic, Korean Giant, etc.).  And indeed they'll (well most anyway) will develop sugars much before they are at peak flavor.  And the "golden" (generally on the southwest "sunkissed" side) color develops late and is an indicator of peak maturity.

     And as information I do think Stark Hardy Giant is the same as Olympic as I sent them their original bud wood many, many years ago and have seen their scion orchard more recently.

ed

On Sat, May 9, 2009 at 10:40 AM, William C. Garthright <billg@inebraska.com> wrote:

> I'll start by saying that most so-called Asian type varieties exhibit
> near true flavor when harvested/consumed directly from the tree.  A
> few (Olympic comes to mind) will develop enhanced flavors after a
> couple of months in refrigerated storage but this flavor change is
> subtle (perhaps a bit more of "butterscotch" than at harvest).


I'm absolutely the last person to judge subtle flavors, as you can tell
from this story. Last year, I got my first (a total of three) Asian
pears from my young "Starking Hardy Giant" (from Stark Bros., so who
knows?) tree. I had absolutely no idea how to tell when it was ripe, so
I just picked one in early September and tried it. Well, it was sweet,
and good-tasting, but was it ripe? I didn't have the slightest idea.

So I waited awhile and tried another one. Same thing. Finally, much
later (but unfortunately, I didn't note the date), I picked the last
one. It was still hard, of course, and still sweet, and it was clearly -
obviously - better-tasting than the other two. After that, even I could
tell that the first two weren't ripe. But I still don't know if the last
one was perfectly ripe (my guess is that it was), or how to tell when I
should pick them (although the last one did develop something of a
golden color).

Heh, heh. At any rate, I have neither the experience nor the taste buds
to respond to your request. I just thought that my experience was kind
of funny. I tend to like everything that I grow myself (clove currants
being the exception), but my opinions aren't shared by others.

:-)

Bill
Lincoln, NE (zone 5)

--
America has believed that in differentiation, not in uniformity, lies
the path of progress. It acted on this belief; it has advanced human
happiness, and it has prospered. - Louis D. Brandeis
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