Oe Town Sightseeing Product Association HP

▲La France, the Queen of Fruits

La France is a western pear, originally coming from France. It has a distorted round shape with blown spots on the skin. Because of its bad shape and rough skin, the locals call it as “Midakunashi” (ugly looking). However, it is famous for its sweet aroma, rich flavor, and fine and smooth texture. People also call it the “Queen of Fruits” with admiration.

La France pears are picked when they are still hard, so the just harvested pears are tasteless. They will be left at room temperature for around 10 days to 2 weeks. It is not until they are ripe that they can be eaten fresh. In the ripening process, La France becomes sweeter starch decomposes into fruit sugar, sucrose, or dextrose. Also, gelatinized pectin results in its smoother texture. The best time to eat La France is when it becomes as soft as a baby’s cheek. Storing it in the refrigerator will halt its ripening. However, once it becomes ready to eat, it will continue ripening quickly.
Harvesting Time
Mid-October through November
Best Recipes
In addition to eating it fresh, you can enjoy juice, jam, wine, jelly, cakes, etc.