The Perfect Pear Trivia Quiz

Answer: Quince

Pear, apple and quince belong to the Rosaceae (rose) family, Maloideae subfamily (formerly known as Pomoideae). Due to their kinship they have common culinary preparations, especially in baked form. The tart tatin serves as an excellent example, originally created with apples but similar pear and quince variations followed with time (warning: purists will not allow you to call it "tart tatin" unless apples are used).

The avocado is pear-shaped, which is where its relationship with the pear ends.

Answer: False

On the contrary, Chinese and Greek writings as early as 1000BC detail pear domestication.

Pears are mentioned several times in Homer's "Odyssey" dating to 800BC, e.g. "... when Ulysses saw him so worn, so old and full of sorrow, he stood still under a tall pear tree and began to weep..." (book 14).

Answer: Contains less than 20 calories

An average pear contains 10%RDA vitamin C, 10%RDA vitamin K, 10%RDA copper and 15%RDA dietary fiver. Most of the fiber is stored in the grains which give it its typical texture. Fat-insoluble fiber is a colon cleanser which reduces the risk of colon cancer. It also washes away cholesterol-rich bile salts causing the body to break down more cholesterol, both lowering cholesterol levels and improving digestion.

Pears have been shown to be one of the least allergy-associated fruits. Combined with their smooth texture and dietary value this makes them a perfect choice for introduction to infants.

An average pear contains around 100 calories. After all it does contain 15% carbohydrates which are responsible for its pleasant sweetness.

Answer: China

According to FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN) pears are cultivated in over 80 countries in Asia, Europe, Africa, Australia and America. China is way ahead of the field with 55% of worldwide production (12,625,000 tons in 2007). Italy, Spain and the USA are behind with 5% each, and South Africa with 2%.

Answer: Alphonso

The European pear (Pyrus communis, "common pear") is a man-made crossing of wild pear trees. Its three main cultivars are Anjou, Bosc and Bartlett (known outside North America as Williams). In case you are a liqueur avid you probably know that "Poire William" is a generic name for pear liqueur, and if not, this is as good as any time to try one!

The Asian pear (Pyrus pyrifolia) is the species cultivated in the Orient.

Alphonso is a premium mango cultivar from west India.

Answer: Pear cider

As aforementioned, there are many similarities between apples and pears and the perry is the parallel of the apple cider. The typical alcoholic content in perry is 7%-9% by volume and it is commonly produced in Europe from a dedicated, non-edible pear variety.

Answer: True

American linguist Prof. Wallace Chafe set off to research the variance in how a simple story is told in different languages. In 1975, he designed and filmed such a storyboard and used it to elicit stories from people he interviewed worldwide. The 6 minutes long film (see http://pearstories.org/docu/ThePearStories.htm) includes non-vocal scenes with basic human emotional stimuli such as theft, help, reward, order, work, deduction and the response to them.

The choice of pears and the pear tree could not have been random in such a thoroughly pre-fabricated story, and it must be related to the fact that pears are universally recognized (yet not triviality). Also worth mentioning that in "Confessions of St. Augustine" (Book 2, Paragraph 9) there is a confession on juvenile pear theft, resembling the one in "The Pear Stories" - a direct connection between the two is not established though. Thanks to Dr. Mary S. Erbaugh, researcher of the Chinese Pear Stories from the University of Oregon and owner of the above-mentioned website, for the information.

Answer: Mispronunciation

Researching for this quiz, I was a bit disappointed to find out that my true love, the shiny and elegant pear tree, probably got into the top spot of this popular Christmas carol by mistake - French for "a partridge" is "une perdrix" (pr. "un per-dree"), and it is assumed that the original wording was "a partridge, une perdrix" which got distorted with time into "a partridge in a pear tree".

Answer: A horribly complicated situation

Yet another blow to my pear-loving ego. Could be it has to do with the actual shape of the (European) pear narrowing towards the top, but I'm too devastated to further enquire. An elaboration on the various meanings of "pear-shaped" and their origins can be found at http://www.oed.com/bbcwordhunt/pear-shaped.html

At least in my mother tongue of Hebrew the word for pear ("agas") has a more neutral colloquial use - it simply refers to the traditional Tungsten-wire light bulb.

Answer: Gorgonzola cheese

The pear and Gorgonzola lend themselves to one another and form a mouth-watering pizza you better eat before you take your final breath. Don't know about the other options, but I fully trust the culinary judgment of Italians who chose to stay away from these seemingly abhorring combinations.

Player Arlesienne tells me of an old and beloved Italian proverb:
" 'Al contadino non far sapere quant'è buono il formaggio con le pere'. In Italian, it rhymes, but the approximate translation is: 'Don't tell the peasant how good cheese is with pears'. As usual, the origin is not quite certain, but it probably goes back to the Middle Ages, when pears were precious fruits, and only destined for the table of the Seigneurs. "
I thank her for sharing this bit of interesting info, and thank you for playing this quiz.