If a fruit is in season, you can count on Cimino Farm to bring it to the Morningside Farmers Market on Saturday mornings. Right now the farm has three varieties of pears available: Moonglow, with its smooth creamy flesh; sweet and juicy Pineapple with its mild pineapple flavor; and crisp Oriental pears.
Cynthia Crook, produce manager, says her customers love fruit and since the farm has both wild and cultivated fruit, it’s a great addition to the vegetables and nuts they bring throughout the year.
Farm owners Pete and Billie Cimino and their son Ansley Watson planted their pear trees back in 2001. Watson said, “We have 74 fig trees, 37 pear trees and 16 blueberry bushes. In all we have about 1 1/2 acres planted in fruit and plan on adding more soon.”
The pears are popular not only with their customers, but with restaurants like Cakes & Ale and Holeman & Finch. At Cakes & Ale, the pears become part of a potato and pear puree.
Over at Holeman & Finch, they’re serving Cimino Farm pears in their Nashi Pear Salad, simmering the pears with butter, coriander, fig preserves (also made from Cimino Farm fruit), black pepper, salt, fresh lemon juice and parsley. The poached pears are served with more fig preserves, candied pecans, pickled rhubarb, parsley sprigs and a drizzle of Georgia olive oil.
Watson’s wife Caroline splits the pears in half and steams them with butter and sugar in the microwave for about 25 seconds. Crook likes to eat them raw and cut into salads or just out of hand.
Don’t expect local pears to look like the Bartletts you find at the grocery store. Local pears are likely to have brownish roughened skins and flesh with an almost sandy texture. These days, most Bartletts and other varieties of pears in commercial production are grown in the dry areas of the Pacific Northwest, far away from our heat and humidity and the fungus and disease they cause.
But local pears still have that luscious pear flavor and make a welcome addition to the menu in late summer and fall.
AT LOCAL FARMERS MARKETS
Cooking demos:
4-8 p.m. Thursday, September 5: Chef Seth Freedman of Forage and Flame offers demos throughout the market. East Atlanta Village Farmers Market, Atlanta. www.farmeav.com
9 a.m. Saturday, September 7: Chef Shaun Doty of Bantam & Biddy, working with pears. Morningside Farmers Market, Atlanta. www.morningsidemarket.com
10 a.m. Saturday, September 7: Chef David Larkworthy of 5 Seasons Brewery. Peachtree Road Farmers Market, Atlanta. www.peachtreeroadfarmersmarket.com
FOR SALE
Vegetables and fruit: acorn squash, arugula, Asian greens, Asian pears, beets, bitter melon, blueberries, carrots, celery, collards, corn, cucumbers, dandelion, eggplant, field peas, figs, garlic, green beans, herbs, kale, lettuce, Malabar spinach, melons, muscadines, mushrooms, mustard greens, Okinawa spinach, okra, onions, pea shoots, pears, peppers, potatoes, pumpkins, radishes, sorrel, spring onions, summer squash, sweet potatoes, sweet potato greens, tomatoes, turmeric, yard long beans, winter squash
From local reports
Murphy Family Pear Relish
Hands on: 20 minutes Total time: 50 minutes Makes: 3 pints
Pear relish is an old-fashioned Southern classic, a savory alternative to the expected sweet jams and preserves. “My grandmother [or mother] made that! I haven’t thought about it in years,” was the refrain heard often at the Cimino Farm booth when shoppers heard about this recipe.
Vicky Murphy grew up in Tallahassee and remembers her mom making massive amounts of this relish and fig preserves in the late summer with the fruit that grew in their yard. “We used the relish on greens, beans and peas. We used it on hot dogs occasionally, but kind of considered that a waste of good relish when you could use a store-bought pickle relish,” said Murphy.
Fans of bread-and-butter pickles will particularly enjoy this relish. An assortment of red and orange peppers brightens up the result but you can make this with any color bell pepper you like.
1/2 cup chopped bell peppers
3 pounds pears, cored and stemmed, peeled if desired
1 1/4 cups chopped onions
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup white vinegar
1 1/2 teaspoons mixed pickling spices
3/4 teaspoon turmeric
1/4 teaspoon salt
Place the chopped peppers in a colander and allow to drain while preparing the other ingredients.
In the bowl of a food processor, chop the pears and put them in a large saucepan. Add the onions, sugar, vinegar, pickling spices, turmeric and salt. Discard any juices from the chopped peppers and add the drained peppers to the saucepan. Bring mixture to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer 30 minutes. Watch the level of liquid and if the mixture seems to be drying out, cover the pan to retain the liquid.
After mixture has cooked, pour into clean pint jars and seal. Refrigerate jars. They will keep up to one year.
Adapted from a recipe provided by Vicky Murphy.
Per 1-tablespoon serving: 17 calories (percent of calories from fat, 3), trace protein, 4 grams carbohydrates, trace fiber, trace fat (no saturated fat), no cholesterol, 6 milligrams sodium.
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