kieffer pear

There is only one type of pear that grows in the Lowcountry, the Kieffer pear. They are hard as rocks even at their ripest, but the meat is sweet. As a child, when pears began to fall, I had no control over my Tennessee five-gaited walking horse, Lady. She’d get a whiff from the tree and my riding day was over. I would bail off just before she dashed under the limbs to feast. Kieffer pears have a short season and are not grown commercially, yet the season of business is 24/7, so we began using any pear that was available. The softer, more edible, varieties actually make for better relishes and chutney, not to mention the ease of preparation.