A guide to pears in France with varieties and best pears for cooking or baking - even a slang French expressions using pears. Includes our favourite French pear desserts, two of them classics from Paris.
French Pear Season
Summer pears (July-August): Early varieties such as Guyot, Jules Guyot, and Williams Bon Chrétien (known as Bartlett in the UK/USA). In Mediterranean regions, you may also find Coscia (Italy) or Ercolini (Spain/Italy), both delicate, sweet pears harvested as early as June-July.
Autumn/Winter pears (September-February): Later, longer-keeping pears such as Comice, Beurré Hardy, Conférence, Passe-Crassane, Louis Bonne, and Général Leclerc. These are denser and keep well through the colder months.
Pears in France from Louis XIV to Today
Pears came to France in the 16th Century and became popular thanks to Louis XIV's botanist, La Quintinye, who grew many varieties at Le Potager du Roi in Versailles.
According to the French Ministry of Agriculture, 224 000 tons of pears were harvested in 2022 - and 10,000 winter pears in 2023, notably poires de Savoie IGP. The most popular are perhaps
Poiré is a drink prepared like its more popular apple cider ('Cidre' in French) sister in Brittany and Normandy but made with fresh pear juice.
In the Loire/Touraine region, the tradition of drying pears called Poires Tappés continues today, notably in the village of Rivarennes near Azay-le-Rideau.
French Pear Varieties
Since the Romans, they already discovered about 50 varieties of pears. Today there are over 2000 varieties of pears in France, mostly grown in 3 regions: Centre Val-de-Loire, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes and Provence-Alpes Côte-d'Azur.
However, only a few varieties are widely available at the farmers' markets and in supermarkets. The most popular being:
- la Conférence, Williams, Comice (la Doyenné de Comice), Bosc (Beurre Bosc), la Passe-Crassane, Guyot (la Docteur Jules Guyot), Beurré Hardy and Alexandrine.
Historical varieties grown at the Potager du Roi in Versailles include Angelys, Bon-Chrétien (translated as 'Good Christian') Williams and Cuisse-Madame ('Woman's Thigh') - oh-là-là !
The Conference Pear was born in the UK, so named after the National Pear Conference in Britain in 1885.
Pears have a particular texture - they have a slight sandy crunch due to rock cells. Only quinces have the same characteristic.
Pear's Nutrition
Pears are rich in vitamin B9 and a source of vitamin C and good fibre. They're best consumed on their own at the table to keep their vitamin content.
How Best to Prepare and Store Pears
Preparing pears: like apples once peeled, it's best to cover pears in lemon juice to avoid the fragile fruit naturally browning.
Store pears out of the fridge (a tip picked up at le potager du roi).
Leave at room temperature for 2-3 days but if winter pears hard, can last longer stored in a cool dark place.
French Saying with Pears
There are two slang expressions in French, but I'd recommend not to use the second one in good company!
"Couper la poire en deux"
literally to cut the pear in two, means to split the difference, reach a compromise or meet half way.
"Je suis une poire, ou quoi ?" or "C'est marqué Poire sur ma tête ?"
Familiar/colloquial expression meaning Do you think I'm a mug or stupid?
Equally, French people say this pointing to their forehead, as if branded stupid
(literally translated as 'Am I pear or what?')
Best French Pears To Use for Cooking or Baking
- Pear Williams - soft skin, sweet and juicy. Medium sized.
- Comice - sweet and juicy; great for poaching for its shape and in pâtisserie
- Conference - as the above but skin is thicker and its shape more elongated. Has a little acidity which makes this a great all-rounder.
What Goes Well with Pears?
Pears pair particularly well (say that fast!) with:
- blue cheese
- beetroot
- coffee
- blackcurrant, blackberry and blueberry
- walnuts, hazelnuts
- chocolate desserts
Serve raw with savoury in salads and cheese. Also delicious cooked in tarts, compotes, and poached in syrup or wine. See recipes below.
French Pear Recipes
A collection of recipes using French pears and ideas of how to best eat them to enjoy the season.
Enjoy raw pear in this Roquefort Salad. As pears pair extremely well with blue cheese, this is an excellent combination with the King of French Cheeses.
Fabulous with walnuts and apple during the Autumn and Winter months.
Cooked in this delicious dessert with toasted oats, enjoy this warm pear, chocolate and hazelnut crumble with extra chocolate for a most comforting and decadent dessert, yet low in sugar.
A traditional French dessert is this Pear and Almond Tart (la tarte Bourdaloue). As it was created on rue Bourdaloue in Paris, its name became popular for this Parisian treat.
Another Parisian dessert is the one created by chef Auguste Escoffier in 1864. Escoffier poaches pears in a vanilla syrup and coats it in warm chocolate sauce with vanilla ice cream. Named after Jacques Offenbach's comic opera, 'la Belle-Hélène', its name, la Poire Belle Hélène has been a classic since then.
Poached pears in Vanilla and Coffee is my original recipe initially inspired by French chef, Anne-Sophie Pic who made a dessert like this with blackcurrant (cassis). Try this bold flavour association with coffee, as it takes poached pears to a new level.
This French apple tart with puff pastry is also great made with sliced pears (Conference or Williams). Sprinkle with chocolate chips and it's a quick dessert.
Added slices of a pear are particularly delicious in this chocolate and ground hazelnut variation of the traditional Galette des rois recipe. Made with puff pastry, it's traditionally filled with almond cream but follow the instructions for my variations and you'll discover that the pear and chocolate will become a new favourite.
Enjoy fresh pears in this chocolate pear cake. Typically French in style, as in one layer, this recipe is lower in sugar and butter than most traditional cakes. No fuss - there's no need to separate the eggs either!
