Unlike many fruits, pears are not best when ripened on the tree, and the unripe fruit after picking needs to be kept at low temperature for a certain length of time in order to develop the ability to ripen optimally off the tree1. One of my earliest recollections of this fruit as a dessert comes from an image of a whole pear shared with family at a restaurant in Connecticut. It was not so much the flavor - which was quite good - but the structural integrity and shape that it retained even after being cooked.
