In which I answer a question from last week's Free Range chat:
I bit into a pear that turned out not to be ripe enough to eat. So as not to waste it, I microwaved it on HIGH for one minute, which wasn’t enough, so I put it back in for a second minute. (I chose microwaving over stewing or baking because I wanted it to be ready fast, considering I’d been expecting to eat it for dessert a few minutes earlier.) The two-minute result was not bad at all! But it could have been better, and I’m guessing you can tell me what to do next time. Whatever you suggest, would it work with other fruits, too, and maybe melons? I hate cutting into a cantaloupe or honeydew, only to find it underripe.
A perfectly timed question. It’s winter, when fruit flown in from afar arrives at the supermarket hard as a rock and slow to ripen — or unwilling to ripen at all. Pears, in particular, are notorious. Of course you remember the words of Ralph Waldo Emerson: “There are only 10 minutes in the life of a pear when it is perfect to eat.” No kidding. He really said that.
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Tragically, Emerson had no microwave. As your experiment showed, you can use one to soften an underripe fruit, but you can’t accurately say you’ve ripened it. And you didn’t mention this, but I’m betting your nuked pear — although softened — didn’t really taste ripe. But okay: You were able to eat it and avoid waste, and that’s a win.
Was it the best technique? Well, most people know that to ripen fruit, the go-to method is to close it up in a paper bag, maybe with an apple to hasten the process, stash it away and wait a few days until it ripens. But that’s of no help when you want to consume the fruit right away, or at least very soon.
If you want to eat it fairly soon, I strongly suggest poaching over microwaving. Cut the fruit into quarters or thick wedges and cook them in a simple syrup, maybe adding a spice or two, until the fruit softens. Then let it stand for a while to develop flavor. You can eat it as is, or over ice cream or yogurt or sponge cake; or add it to oatmeal or granola. Poaching softens the fruit and adds flavor. It’s not quite as fast as the microwave, but I think it’s definitely the way to go.
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I tried your method of microwaving a pear for two minutes, and it did get soft, but the taste was awfully meh. A ripe pear has so much more flavor and, in particular, more sugar. What I did that tasted better: cut the pear into chunks, sprinkled it with a generous amount of sugar and a squeeze of lemon juice, then microwaved it for a little over a minute and a half, stirring about halfway through. That resulted in much more flavor than just the plain microwaved pear. If you must nuke, give this a try.
Share this articleShareAs to other fruits, I think it might work with peaches, nectarines and maybe mangoes, again assuming you add a lot of sugar. Bananas, no; just tried it, complete failure. I didn’t try melons but can’t imagine they would respond well. You’re just going to have to improve your melon selection skills at the market.
Should you find yourself in the same situation again, try our recipe for Grilled Pears With Basil Sour Cream, pictured above; it requires pears that are underripe because they hold up better on the hot grill.
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Got a culinary question? Fortunately, it's Wednesday, so the answer will be close at hand when you tune in to today's Free Range chat. A few hot topics, from the pages of this week's Food: Maura Judkis looks at pay-what-you-can restaurants, designed to preserve the dignity of low-income diners; Bonnie S. Benwick casts a skeptical eye on our fascination with 5-ingredient recipes; and Fritz Hahn finds Walmart and other chain stores selling their own house brands of craft-style beer. What does his taste test reveal? Find out here. Today we'll be joined by Unearthed columnist Tamar Haspel, who writes in defense of the beleagured potato.
And, of course, you can discuss the progress of WaPo Food's 5 Diets project as our intrepid staffers finish Week 3.
The chat, as always, starts at noon.
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