On a sauvé la poire tapee à Rivarennes
La silhouette de la poire est bien la, mais le fruit est comme aplani. Pressee plus que battue, la poire tapee a une texture legerement plus dense qu une pate de fruit et un gout concentre. On la deguste telle quelle ou rehydratee dans du vin, un bouillon ou un autre liquide.
Specialite de Touraine, elle apparait au Moyen-Age, lorsque les croises ramenent de Damas la technique de conservation des prunes et de fabrication des pruneaux, qu ils appliquent aux fruits locaux. La production et sa commercialisation de poires tapees font ensuite prosperer le petit village de Rivarennes, près de Tours, avant que les fruits cuits ne cedent la place aux conserves.
Depuis les annees 1990, une association et des producteurs s efforcent de faire revivre ce savoir-faire. Tourangeaux d adoption, Christine et Philippe Blot ont relance la fabrication dans le four a bois de leur ferme retapee pour commercialiser ces tresors via leur entreprise Reines de Touraine. Le processus de production dure une semaine. Une fois epluchees, les poires sont enfournees a plusieurs reprises avant de subir les foudres de la platissoire, sorte de presse permettant d en extraire les dernieres traces d humidite. Ainsi deshydratees, les poires peuvent etre conservees des decennies.
Leur gout et leur texture particuliere ont su seduire une clientele de particuliers et de chefs, a l instar de Florent Martin, car la poire tapee se prete a toutes les interpretations en cuisine, accompagnant foie gras, fromages mais aussi viandes ou poissons. Mais alors que La Maison Herin, second producteur vient de quasiment cesser ses activites et que le couple Blot a lui aussi atteint l age de la retraite, la survie de cette specialite regionale pourrait etre de nouveau menacee.
The rebirth of the tapered pear in Rivarennes
The silhouette of the pear is still there, but the fruit is flattened. Pressed rather than beaten, the tapped pear has a slightly denser texture than a fruit paste and a concentrated taste. It can be eaten as is or rehydrated in wine, broth or other liquid.
A speciality of Touraine, it appeared in the Middle Ages, when the Crusaders brought back from Damascus the technique of preserving plums and making prunes, which they applied to the local fruit. The production and marketing of tapered pears then made the small village of Rivarennes, near Tours, prosper, before the cooked fruits gave way to preserves.
Since the 1990's, an association and producers have been trying to revive this know-how. Christine and Philippe Blot, Tourangeaux by adoption, have restarted the production in the wood oven of their renovated farm to market these treasures through their company Reines de Touraine. The production process lasts one week. Once peeled, the pears are put in the oven several times before being subjected to the wrath of the platissoire, a kind of press that extracts the last traces of moisture. Thus dehydrated, the pears can be kept for decades.
Their particular taste and texture have seduced a clientele of individuals and chefs, such as Florent Martin, because the pear lends itself to all interpretations in cooking, accompanying foie gras, cheese but also meat or fish. But as La Maison Herin, the second producer, has almost ceased its activities and as the Blot couple has also reached retirement age, the survival of this regional specialty could be threatened again.
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