Wayne Boatwright wrote:

> I have several old jam/preserve recipes from my grandmother which call for
> pears to be peeled, cored, then either ground (jam) or sliced (preserve). My
> recollection of her jam/preserve was that the pears retained a noticable
> texture. When I buy pears for eating ripe, it seems the texture would be far
> too soft for grinding or slicing and retaining a texture after cooking.
>
> Are these recipes expecting a different kind of pear or pears that are not
> ripe?

My grandmother made hers with what we called "sand pears." They were
hard and not particularly sweet. As close as I can imagine nowadays
would be an unripe bosc pear. The texture of a preserve would be
slightly gritty and, depending on how cooked it is,. still slightly
resistant to the bite.

Pastorio