Haystacks that look like pears

This is today's painting in my year of paintings diary. It's called Haystacks in the snow and is by the German Expressionist painter Franz Marc. I have to say I was amazed by the title because to me and, I would think, to most people, they look like pears. Covered in icing or cream perhaps. I mean haystacks do not have things like pear stalks sticking out of the top. I quite like it though. It's a pleasing design. He maintains that "objects speak" but if they do I have no idea what they are saying.

Anyway enough about the art. What about the pears? They're a much maligned fruit. They are often so much cheaper than apples, and just as delicious, and yet we don't buy them in the same quantities. Indeed I have heard of them being ploughed back into the ground because they couldn't be sold. Nowadays there are lots of fancy varieties as well - when we first came here you could only get the big Williams pears. And for some reason, pears are nearly always sold underripe. Maybe because unlike apples, they do ripen and go soft - and like bananas - if you don't get them at the right moment they're gone. But unlike bananas you can't make bread or cake with the gone off ones. When they're gone, they're gone.

"There are only ten minutes in the life of the pear when it is perfect to eat."

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Now is this true? - I know I sort of said the same thing just now, but I think this may only be referring to an uncooked pear eaten raw. For you can cook pears, and there are very many lovely ways to do it. My favourite is one of the quickest and most delicious ways I know to prepare a dessert - though it would be nice for breakfast too I think.

PEARS IN PASSIONFRUIT SAUCE

8 pears, 2 cups water, 1 cup sugar, 1 cup fresh orange juice, several slivers of orange rind, 6 fresh passionfruit

Peel the pears, leaving on the stalks. Place the water and sugar in a saucepan; be sure it is one in which pears will fit snugly. When the sugar has dissolved add the orange juice and rind.

Add the pears to the liquid, spoon a little over the sides so they will not discolour and place a lid on the pan. Cook very gently until they are quite tender. Remove them carefully to a bowl and reduce the liquid in the pan by about a third. Halve the passionfruit, add the pulp of two of them to the syrup, then push the pulp of the others through a sieve into the syrup so you won’t have so many seeds in the liquid.

Pour the sauce over the pears while hot. cover and chill, turning them over each day if any of the fruit is not in the liquid. Try to keep for 48 hrs before eating, but they keep well for 5 days.

But you can do so much more with pears:

"Pears have an affinity with many ingredients – sweet, savoury or spicy – and work well in diverse dishes, from breakfasts and sumptuous salads to pickles, pork and puds"

Thus speaks the Guardian which goes on to demonstrate this with several very different but equally scrumptious looking recipes. You can find them here. Start here and you will soon get lots and lots of ideas. And apparently even Elizabeth David maintained that her recipe for poached pears, could make even rock hard pears delicious. So don't let pears disappear from the scene. Go buy some and do something wonderful with them.

"Gold to the apple's silver."