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Rivarennes and the bruised pears

Dried pears, illustration picture | Janet Hudson / CC-BY
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What’s this?

These poires tapées ("bruised" pears) are flattened on 1 centimetre!

Desiccated, they keep their flavour and texture. We can eat them in cakes or in savoury dishes.

In Rivarennes (Indre-et-Loire), people make pears since centuries...

Pears have to be desiccated in a special oven.

Then they peel pears and hold them tight before they put them in the oven.

The fruit desiccates little by little while keeping its shape.

The little history

So, what about our "bruised" pears? In Orléans and Tours area, people make bruised apples and pears since the middle of the 16th century.

The climax came in the 19th century, but in middle of the 20th century, canned pears competed...

The recovery came only in 1987; one year later, a little museum dedicated to the bruised pears opened in Lurquant (Indre-et-Loire) and... the production took up again!

At that time, they produced 9 tons of pears (160 tons in the 19th century)...

About the the author

Vinaigrette
I'm fond of strolls and History, with juicy and spicy details!