Poir-fect Pear: Abate Fetel

Just look at these babies. Long and somewhat alien, with just enough russet for interest without enough to give you that matte texture on the skin that feels a little weird against your teeth (you know what I'm talking about, right?). They're fragrant, floral and intensely sweet. I made juice with some of the more ripe pears in my basket and sure enough it was like drinking pear-flavored honey. Amazing. 

The Abate Fetel is, from what I can tell, a late 19th century pear developed by a French monk (Abate = Abbot). The thing is, from preliminary internet research, I've found all sorts of conflicting information about its development! 

The only formally published information about it that I could find was that it was in a book from 1886, claiming it was a new cultivar available from France. I have found orchard and nursery sites claim it to be developed in 1866, and other sites that say it was bred by monks in the 16th century. How frustrating!

I'm beginning to wonder if the tree itself was developed by monks way-back-when, but it wasn't released as scions for commercial production until 1866... It certainly didn't make it over to the states until the 1880's though. It's now one of the top pears in Italy, which is additionally frustrating because when I use the internet to search for information all I get are Italian websites talking about modern fruit production and export. Boo.

Ah, the woes of researching antiquated fruit varieties... the fruits themselves are hard to find, but real, fact-based documentation of them is even worse! More often than not I find myself reading accounts from folks' great-great-great grandfathers who ran orchards and whatnot.

UPDATE: I finally was able to get my hands on a more recent book on the history of pears and have read now that the Abate Fetel is indeed a late 19th century pear. Thank goodness for books! The internet can be so full of misinformation.