The first thought that pops into my head is; what the hell was I thinking when I created this one. I’m referring to those paper thin unripe pear slices, marinated in key lime syrup for a few days, then carefully laid out on trays and placed in a low temperature oven for about an hour to dry. After all of that fussing, there is still another step, which is to dip the lime infused crispy pear into a bitter sweet chocolate. This was something that should have been kept a secret, never to touch palates of our loyal customers. That being said, the pears ended up becoming a household old skool favorite at Recchiuti. Since then we have introduced an apple version, I must be crazy, oh well the damage is done, no turning back.

I think it’s time to share the inception of those damn pears. At first, it was quite simple; the basic idea was introduced to me by a very close chef buddy, Sean Eastwood. Sean and I started working together in the Berkshires at a boutique resort during the summer of 1990, this turned out to be a summer of sharing ideas and pushing the culinary envelope.

When it was time to create a dessert menu; my thoughts were to cull from my Philly days as a pastry chef, folded into available local product from the Berkshires. Sean expressed an idea for a dessert called apple chrysalis, which he was making at a resort/restaurant in Bath England. My first question was what the hell is an apple chrysalis? I wish I never asked that question, because now the metamorphosis has become a labor of love. Ok, here we go with a brief description of this dessert. We started out with the process described above, using granny smith apples. The only difference was the apples were laid out on a sheet tray in two different patterns. The first was a single row of 5-6 apples, ends overlapping slightly. The second was a flower pattern of apples, which resembled a daisy. Next step was to dry the apples until crisp when cooled. While the apples are still warm, we would invert the delicate flower into an 8 ounce ladle and set aside to cool and crisp up. The next step was to take the connected strip of apples from the oven and line a 3 inch ring mold to create a cylinder of paper thin apples. Not finished yet, the final step is to turn this into a plated dessert. The short version is to take the apple cylinder and place it around a vanilla mousse, then carefully rest the inverted apple dome on top of the ring. This dessert was stressful to assemble, but the visual impact and flavor was worth it. After which, years go by, and I decide to try all sorts of variations of drying apples and pears to accompany desserts as a garnish or a delicate after dinner treat dipped in chocolate. This is the beginning of a great adventure; and there you have my pear saga.

Bye for now.

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