Fruits
Nashi
Nashi
pears (Pyrus pyrifolia and P. ussuriensis) are juicy
round pears, shaped like apples. Because of the
resemblance, some people call them "apple pears." They
originated in East Asia where they are a popular fruit,
eaten as a thirst quencher. Nash, is a generic word for
pears and European pears are called Yonashi. The fruit
are harvested in fall and nashi may be used as an autumn
kigo (or season word) in writing haiku.
Once reserved as a food to be served only to the
wealthy and to Chinese nobles, Nashi pears have been
grown, cultivated, and eaten for centuries. Little is
known about their origin... it's estimated that they
began appearing at least 3,000 years ago in China.
Some varieties spread westward, and those ended up
looking and tasting more like the pears with which most
people are familiar. The varieties that spread eastward,
however, took on more of an apple-like shape and a
crisper quality, and those became the Nashi pears we
know today.
They were first introduced to Americans on the West
Coast by Chinese migrant workers during the 1850s. Even
today, this region - California and Oregon, in
particular - remains the largest Nashi pear producing
region of our country. At first, trees were grown from
seeds found in the fruit, and their quality was widely
varied. It wasn't until the early 1900s, when
pomologists began mastering crossing techniques, that
reliable, high-quality Asian pears were grown in the
U.S. In the 1980s, their was a sudden increase in demand
for Asian pears brought on by the increasing population
of immigrant Americans in the U.S. and Canada.
Nashi pears are a great source of dietary fiber, and
they're also very high in potassium and other essential
minerals. They contain nearly 10% of the USRDA for
Vitamin C, and a high concentration of folates, which
make up the Vitamin B complex group.
