Forelle Pears

About seven months ago I went through a pear phase where I was buying and trying many varieties of pears, including Bartlett, Comice, D'Anjou, Bosc, Fragrant, Ya and Asian. As I was going through Albertson's the other day I spotted a variety I'd not seen before, Forelle Pears. 

Sticking with the categorization from that post, the Forelle would be a mushy pear. Forelles originated in the 1600s in northern Germany and the name means "trout" in German, likely because the red lenticles on the Forelle is similar to the red on a rainbow trout. 

They are grown in Oregon and Washington and are generally available from October through March. It appears that the Forelles I purchased are from Argentina, and based on my familiarity with fruit grown in Chile vs. the same fruit in the U.S., were probably not as good as Forelles grown in the U.S. I found the taste to be uneven, 

some were quite mushy and unappetizing, and several had some of the Bartlett pear taste, though not quite as sweet and a little more crunchy. Forelles do change color as they ripen, turning from green to yellow and developing a red freckling called lenticles. 

The Forelle I ate that was bright yellow with substantial red freckling was the best one I ate. They are quite small, more the size of a fragrant pear. They often have a bell-shape, similar to the Bartlett, and a long, narrow, straight stem. Because of their small size, they are known as a snacking pear. I peeled a couple, but after doing that several times, I ended up just eating them, skin and all.   

I am reserving judgment on them somewhat until I can eat some grown in the U.S. I think they have potential as a real nice pear.