I’m so thrilled to be working with USA Pears and sharing all sorts of fun and practical knowledge about one of my favourite fruits.

In my last pear-inspired post, I explored some of the unique nutritional benefits that pears bring to the table – I encourage you guys to check that one out if you haven’t already.

Today we move on from food for the mind and turn our attention to food for our eyes and mouth.

That’s exactly why I’m featuring one of my favourite ever pear-inspired recipes, the delicious 5-ingredient Gingered Pear & Yogurt bowl that you see pictured.

You will find the full recipe at the end of the blog post, but what I really want to focus on today is the practical aspects of selecting and utilizing pears in your daily life.

Picking Your Pear

There are a wide variety of USA Pears available throughout the year here Canada, each with a unique flavour and crispness.

In today’s post, I’m going to turn my attention to the Bosc pear, which is the type of pear used to prepare today’s recipe.

Discovered in the early 1800s in Europe, the Bosc pear is a crisp and sweet pear variety, which is exactly how I like my pears – firm and very flavourful.

Pronounced BAHsk, USA pears describe this variety of pear as woodsy with a honey sweetness.

I encourage you to click through to this excellent video of pear growers describing the Bosc pear, because they do it even better than I do.

So how do you pick the perfect Bosc pear?

Step 1 – Identify It

Bosc pears are unique and identifiable by their long, curved stem, elongated neck and fully rounded base which, along with their cinnamon brown skin and russeting, make them quite easy to identify.

Russeting is natural and varies from pear to pear but does not reflect the quality or freshness of the fruit.

Step 2 – Ripen It

Because Bosc pears are sweeter and more flavorful early on in the ripening process, compared to other pear varieties, they can be enjoyed before the flesh is fully soft and can be left to ripen at room temperature before refrigeration.

So how do you know if your pear is ripe?

The Check the Neck™ test –  Apply gentle thumb pressure near the stem end but keep in mind that, due to their firmness, Bosc pears won’t give quite as much as other varieties.

Step 3 – The Recipe

I’m a very big texture person and I love my fruit crispy and crunchy, which is why I personally prefer Bosc and have opted for it in this recipe.

You can find the full recipe details below – this Ginger Yogurt & Pear Bowl is the perfect filling snack.  Pears are among the fruits with the highest fibre content and with fibre also being contributed from almonds, you can be sure this will be satiating at any time of the day.