Copius
Poire tapée, drawn for Copius

Poire tapée ✦

Poire tapée

Latin namePyrus communis
FamilyFruits
OriginRivarennes, Touraine
Season (France)All year
FlavourHoneyed · Fruity · Toasty
Typical price (France)35–60 €/kg

What it is

At Rivarennes in Touraine the peeled pears go into a bread oven brought down to about 70°C for two days, then each is struck flat with a wooden paddle, the platissoire, to drive the air out. The village had hundreds of ovens in 1850, production stopped in the 1930s, and two families restarted it in the 1980s.

In the kitchen

Rehydrate them at least twelve hours in Vouvray or a light red with a strip of cinnamon — they take far longer than a dried apricot and stay leathery if you rush them. The soaking wine reduces down into the best part of the sauce.

Goes with

Blue cheese Cinnamon Vanilla Butter Walnut Rocamadour Honey

Same species

Nashi pear Pear Perry vinegar Comice pear Williams pear

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