Food Event: USA Pears Festival

Friday, the 14th January was an eventful day for us Bangalore Bloggers. USA Pears company called out for a bloggers and media meet at Caperberry to celebrate and promote USA Pears festival. This event came into light when Madhuri of Cook-Curry-Nook contacted me asking if I would like to be a part of this bloggers event. I lost out on similar events in the past and didn't surely want to skip this chance. Least, to meet the bloggers whom I have associated with virtually till now. I was looking forward to this.

I quickly nodded a yes to Madhuri, but still unsure on the back of my mind if I would be able to make it to the event. Considering that Friday is a working day for me I pondered if I would actually get a day off from work, since it was festival time and many at my workplace would have planned leaves in advance to get a nice stretched weekend. However, I was fortunate to get a day off and consider lucky enough to attend this event which was scheduled at noon 12.30 pm - 2.30 pm.

It was a quiet food testing and tasting event attended by few bloggers and media personnel. Caperberry on Dickenson Road, a neat and an aesthetically designed art studio cum restaurant was a perfect host to this event.

The imported Pears offered by USA Pears for tasting were sweet with a buttery texture, unlike the Chinese counterparts which have grainy texture similar to apples. Though I have tasted California Prunes and Apples from the same company and also and used them in my recipes earlier, these imported Pears were the first time for my taste buds. To begin with we had an introduction to US Pears from their representative, Rachana who explained well their distinction from the Chinese counterparts. This sweetness and texture make them fantastic ingredient in cocktails, drinks and desserts.

Most of us bloggers being vegetarians did not have any difficulty in choices. Menu was limited and had veg and non veg options to choose from. The cocktails offered had a good variety to chose from and they weren't disappointing at all. Pear dominated the main course too. For the main course, I chose White Wine Poached Pears and Mascarpone Ravioli with Rosemary Butter Sauce. Bland as Raviolis tend to be, I consider the Grilled Pears Stuffed with Cherry Tomato Mozzarella and Pesto better in body and flavor. It's a must try if you plan to visit this place. It was Pears on every course, on every plate!

We hoped there would be a live demo of cooking with Pears, but unfortunately as a testing and tasting event, there was no live cooking demonstrated. Chef, Abhijit Saha took some time out to answer queries we had on cooking with Pears and was kind enough to answer them all.

We are prone to think that fruits always pair well in desserts or drinks, rather than being a core ingredient in a main course dish or a savory. This festival helped break all the traditional norms and school of thoughts. It showed us how well one could use a fruit and pair it with complimenting ingredients to create an exotic dish.

The festival offered us a good chance to taste some great imported US Pear and I hope to use more of these in my forthcoming cooking.It also gave me an opportunity to meet some of the food bloggers whom I have connected only through the web space till now.