Inge Leonora-den Ouden

Photos of what I did with the other half of the big Pear.
Here's my Apple Vinegar (in progress), with the pieces of Pear added on top.


And the last part (a little less than 1/4 of the Pear) I simmered in apple juice. To have as my dessert this evening.

Yeah, I made my (sort of) KimChi!
Here's the first photo. Day 1 (today, November 11th, 2026).


I'm sure some of you want to know what's in it.
I had a recipe (Rezept, German, from the site of the brand of the jar I used), but didn't follow it exactly. I used mostly ingredients I had. Vegetables from my allotment garden and from the weekly CSA bag. Spices I had in the cupboard. I only bought a piece of ginger.

Brussels Sprouts
Large Kale leaves
1 Carrot
1 Golden Beetroot
1 stalk of Celery
1 Red Onion
5 cm long piece of Horseradish
All of this cut in small pieces/slices or grated. The total was about 400 grams. So I added 8 grams seasalt and 'kneaded' until the liquid came out.

Then of ...
1/2 large Cooking Pear (most of the other half is now in my apple vinegar)
2 cloves Garlic
2 cm long piece of Ginger
1 teaspoon of Garam Masala (spice mixture)
a pinch of Nutmeg
1 teaspoon Sambal Ulek
1 spoonfull of Ketjap (Soy sauce)
(first three grated)
I made a mixture too.

Then I made alternated layers of both mixtures in the jar. Pushed it down fiercely with a thick wooden 'stick' (this is one of my kitchen utensils, it comes from Curaçao).
Then I put on the glass weight and the special lid.
Now it's in a dark-ish corner in my living room, to be on 'room temperature'.

Ac Baker wrote:I've never bletted, but apparently as well as medlars, quinces can be bletted..so its possible cooking pears might blet successfully too?

"Medlars are climacteric fruits: usually, but not always, becoming fully ripe and edible off the tree. Harvest them after they have fully grown, about 180 days after pollination. Bletting starts in the middle of the fruit, and is complete when the skin is dark, the fruit smells fragrant, and it is soft and fragile to the touch."

https://www.theorchardproject.org.uk/blog/medlar-bletting-and-harvesting/

I know medlars. They grow in our neighbourhood food forest (and some more places in this region). I know: as soon as the first frost night was there they must be picked, otherwise they fall on the ground (and small animals will eat them). So that's a little bit of 'bletting'. And yes, then they taste delicious!
The taste of a medlar picked 'just ripe' isn't that nice. But I'm told that some time in the freezer will make them better. I don't know, didn't try (yet).

I don't think the taste of a cooking pear will get better by 'bletting'. I can't try out, I don't have a pear tree myself. The pear trees I know are now dropping their last pears. The fallen pears are damaged and get rotten/mouldy very quickly.

Ac Baker wrote:...The most delicious way I have had them, is poached long & slow in spiced red wine (I guess you could do something similar with red grape juice).

Yes, that's the 'luxurious' way of cooking those pears.

M Ljin wrote:Could the pear be bletted or would it just rot? I have noticed that winter street (ornamental) pears taste good in winter and are quite soft, bletting on the tree.

I never heard of it (searched for the meaning of 'bletting'). I don't think this works for those pears. As far as I know they fall from the tree if they're not harvested now.

Anne Miller wrote:

Inge Leonora-den Ouden wrote:

Anne Miller wrote:I have not had fermented pears though this is a novel idea.

If that were my pear, I would make a pie.

- This isn't the kind of pear for a pie. Or at least it would have to be cooked (in some water with something sweet) first.
- If I bake a pie now, I need to eat all of it myself ...

Why are they not good for pie? Are the pears too hard?  Not sweet?

What kind of pears are they?  Are they Perry Pears for making Perry?

They are 'cooking pears' (or 'stewing pears'). Indeed hard and not sweet. They are meant to be cooked in water with sugar.
I don't know which variety they are. Probably an old type, not the one mostly sold here ('Gieser Wildeman'). The region I live in is well-known for the many pear trees, most of which are old varieties of cooking pears.

I don't think perry pears are the same as cooking pears. Cooking pears are not juicy.

I said I don't have radishes. But I do have horseradish....

G Freden wrote:

Joao Winckler wrote:Pear goes into a lot of kimchi pastes, so I'd try shredding it into a kraut or kimchi batch. Hard flesh should hold up to fermenting better than a soft eating pear would, I'd have thought.

https://www.maangchi.com/recipe/dongchimi

I made this recipe last year with some winter radishes (daikon and a pink type) and pear.  I chopped things up into bite sized pieces before fermenting, but otherwise followed the recipe pretty closely and it turned out so delicious.  

I don't have radishes. So I'll have to use other vegetables.

Cristobal Cristo wrote:I have fermented pears, but they did not really want to ferment and remained hard, but were a nice addition to meats.
In my opinion the best thing to do with green, hard, large pears is to preserve them in sugar )after peeling and slicing), by slow, several hour cooking in sugar with some cloves till they become translucent. Then they can be canned or added to plum butter. This is what I grew up with.

Yes, it's that kind of pear. In Dutch 'stoofpeer', they need to be cooked in sweetened water, slowly simmering for a long time (but I think one hour is long enough). But I already cooked two of them in water with sugar. Now I want to do something different with the third one.

Anne Miller wrote:I have not had fermented pears though this is a novel idea.

If that were my pear, I would make a pie.

- This isn't the kind of pear for a pie. Or at least it would have to be cooked (in some water with something sweet) first.
- If I bake a pie now, I need to eat all of it myself ...