Small, Scuffed and Seriously Sweet Pears

Since August this year, Oddbox has scooped up about 50 tonnes of these pears that traditional retail didn’t want. They were too long, too small, too marked, or too odd for supermarket shelves. But, as is so often the case with supermarkets’ rigid rejections, they still taste great. In fact, we’ve found they are extra sweet and perfect for snacking, baking or cooking.

It’s been a tough old season for pears. It started in May, when several late frosts suddenly covered parts of the UK and Europe, whilst the pears were still growing. Frosts in early stages of growth can kill areas of the fruit and not others, which leads to wacky shapes.

Then, as you may recall, we suffered a huge period of drought (still in it now!) where there wasn’t a drop of drizzle for about eight weeks. Without this watering, pears aren’t able to grow to their full size. We saw this all over Europe, which explains the tiny pears we are getting now. Even if growers are able to water the crop through the drought, it doesn’t mean that they can catch up enough to grow to their full, ‘typical’ size. 

To top it off, hail suddenly descended on certain areas of England, leaving marks and blemishes on fruit that might otherwise have been picture-perfect. Although who really cares about what it looks like when they are so tasty?

This weather bedlam has meant that lots of pears are either below the size supermarkets want or just simply too odd. I’m talking about long fruits with curved ends, or fat fruits with wide bases or even conjoined: two pears for one. 

Our pears are coming from growers in Kent, Cambridgeshire, Belgium and the Netherlands, and they are in our boxes for different reasons.

• Too small: in Belgium and the Netherlands, around 70% of one crop came in at 50–55mm below what supermarkets usually take. Some of our Kent pears are on the petite side too.
• Too odd-looking: pears from Cambridgeshire and Kent are a little more funky and a little less formal, but very little (almost nothing) is too funky for us.
• A bit of everything: one of our Kent growers, now in their third year with us, dealt with frost, drought, russeting (those rough, freckly brown patches on the skin) and some misshapen fruit, all in one season.

If you need some inspiration to make the most of these fun-shaped fruits, here are some ideas:

• Ripening: leave firm pears at room temperature, then gently press near the stalk. When it gives a little, they’re ready. Move ripe pears to the fridge to keep them going for a few more days.
• Poach them whole: small pears are just the right size for poaching. Here's our recipe for poached pears. Or try baked pears with cinnamon and maple. 
• Bake or slice: what about trying an upside-down pear cake?

Despite everything the weather threw at them, our growers have found these little pears are erring on the side of sweet, almost like pear drops — honey sweet, fantastic flavour and excellent quality. If you find them in your box in the next few weeks, you’re in for an absolute treat.