Every autumn when the leaves turn vibrant, the markets fill up with another symphony of color: pears. From bright-yellow Bartletts to golden-brown Boscs, from jaunty-green Anjous to olive-green Seckels with their deep-maroon blush, this versatile fall fruit can be exciting, inviting and a real revelation for chefs and restaurateurs.

Piquant and practical

Pears have been a fruit-bowl favorite for centuries. Ice Age inhabitants probably feasted on pears as today's children do, devouring them as "in-hand" treats. Originally grown in Russia's Caucasus Mountains, pears spread over time to locales as diverse as China, Chile, South Africa, France, Argentina and Australia, as well as the United States. By the Dark Ages, the fruit had become a delicacy mainly reserved for aristocrats and clergy. During Louis XIV's opulent reign, the court at Versailles delighted in pears with scintillating names like "my lady's thigh" (cuisse-madame).

American colonists found more pragmatic uses for pears — extracting yellow dye from their leaves, carving pear-wood furniture and making pear liquor.

The supposed healing power of pears fascinated the ancient Sumerians, who used them in poultices, while in today's society, pears are touted as high-fiber allies in the fight against cancer, heart disease and diabetes. The pectin in pears is also thought to be effective in battling cancer and reducing serum cholesterol. Pears are America's seventh-most-popular fresh fruit, lagging behind bananas, apples, oranges, grapes, grapefruit and the composite group of peaches and nectarines, in that order. In 1994, Americans ate only about 3 1/2 pounds of fresh pears per person, but devoured more than 28 pounds of fresh bananas, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Economic Research Service statistics. Among canned fruits, pears place third, behind peaches and apples.

Pear popularity, however, seems to be on the upswing. In fact, in the early '90s, it was reported that pears appeared on more menus than any other fruit.

A pear primer

Today, pears are grown worldwide, with California, Oregon and Washington producing 95 percent of our national crop. By September, seven pear varieties — yellow Bartlett, red Bartlett, Bosc, Comice, Nelis, Forelle and Seckel — are available. In October, Anjous join the group and offer foodservice operators juicy choices throughout the fall and winter.

Most pear varieties come to our country from European sources. Bell-shaped Bartlett pears descend from an English seed. Bartletts start out green, then ripen to gold; red Bartletts ripen to crimson. Large, green Comice pears are French immigrants; buttery soft and meltingly juicy, they're frequently kissed with red on one cheek. Golden-brown Boscs, claimed by both the French and Belgians, are the most elegant of all pears with their long slender necks; the firm flesh of the Bosc keeps its shape when cooked. Squat green or yellow Anjous, named after a small French town, look more plebian. With short, stout stems, they ripen slowly and are great for baking and poaching, like Bartletts and Boscs.

Tiny Forelles, of German descent, delight with their crimson blush against yellow-green and are my secret favorite. They are a perfect companion to a simple trio of macaroons, biscotti and a wedge of cheese. "Forelle" means "trout," an apt play on their speckled skin.

Miniature, olive-green Seckels, first grown near Philadelphia shortly after the Revolutionary War, surprise taste buds with an exceptional sweetness in marked contrast with their dark-maroon coloring. Although small, Seckels are great in salads, jams and preserves. Sturdy winter Nelis pears, yellow speckled with russet, at once sweet and spicy, are Belgian in origin. And, although not strictly pears, Asian pears — often called "apple pears" — have been savored for centuries in the Orient. Freckled with pinpoints, most Asian pears possess both the shape and crispness of apples.

These are only the most common varieties that can sweeten your menus and your sales. With heightened desire — and prices — for new red varieties, beauties like red Comices, red Anjous, red Bartletts, red Crimson and red Blush offer new tastes to tempt customers.

Fruitful promotional possibilities

All types of pears can be popular — and profitable — menu items. A pear promotion arouses interest, especially when diners can learn the history of the fruit and savor the flavors of different kinds of pears.

Pears taste great in soups, salads, entrees, and pastries and other desserts. You'd be surprised how well pears perk up meals all day long. At breakfast, we couple spiced pears with steaming oatmeal and serve them in pear fritters with maple syrup. Overripe pears can be turned into spiced-pear butter to enhance waffles or toast. Pear muffins topped with pear-pineapple marmalade provide a nice addition to our usual muffin repertoire of cranberry, blueberry, lemon-poppyseed and bran.

In appetizers and hors d'oeuvres, pears broadcast a message of freshness and class. "Pear Mulligatawny Soup" kicks off our annual "Pear Up" promotion in combination with "Pear-Walnut Quick Bread." Pears work well as little "boats" filled with seafood salads or cheeses. For hors d'oeuvres, we substitute Asian pears cut across the circumference for crackers and top them with Roquefort cheese and walnuts or cream cheese and pear-raisin chutney.

Pears also cozy up nicely to watercress and spinach in salads. In the past, our chefs have created salad dishes such as "Comice, Walnuts, Goat Cheese and Watercress in a Walnut-Mustard Vinaigrette," "Forelles, Toasted Almonds, Ham and Gorgonzola in a Thyme-Apple Cider Vinaigrette," and many other variations on the classic cheese-nut-pear salad theme.

In main courses, pork, fish, fowl and beef resonate with pears. During our "Pear Up" promotion, we match Bosc pears with Sezchuan pork cashew in a stir-fry and mix Anjous with our beef curry. Dishes like "Squab Stuffed With Cubed Nelis Pears, Cornbread, Currants and Almonds" or "Trout Stuffed With Bosc Pears, Red Pepper and Polenta" provide comfort when the weather turns chilly. Baked Bosc pears filled with raisins, currants, dates and nuts jazz up ham; stringbeans, Anjou pears and bacon elevate baked pork chops. "Comice Pear Salsa" gives baked salmon a lift, and a side of "Bartlett Pear Coleslaw With Cranberries, Chopped Pecans and Poppy-Seed Dressing" invigorates crab cakes. "Seckel-Pear Salsa Over Chicken Fajitas," "Grilled Caribbean Chicken With Red-Wine/Anjou-Pear Sauce," and "Beef Enchiladas With a Salad of Red Bartletts, Yellow Corn, White Beans, Black Beans and Cilantro" number among countless ethnic specialties that are easy to rethink with pears.

Nothing ends a meal quite like a Forelle or Seckel pear exploding with juice, or a giant Comice poised like a king on a plate. But pear desserts also invite you to leap into boundless realms where you toy with ginger and cloves, dabble with cinnamon, splatter with rum, dash with vanilla, sprinkle with almonds, drench with chocolate, and drown in cream. Our "Pear Gingerbread Dolloped With Whipped Cream," "Baked Caramelized Pears Stuffed With Crushed-Almond-Rum Macaroons," "Pear Ice Cream Swimming in Spiced-Pear Compote," and "Poached-Pear Sampler With Vanilla Cream Sauce and Mango Puree" make diners swoon with pleasure.

Since pear skins contain nutrients as well as gorgeous hues, we always think twice before peeling them. Unskinned red Anjous can turn a bland-looking "Fettucine With Gorgonzola Cream Sauce" into a mini-masterpiece. A few green Bartletts make "Capellini, Fontina and Turkey" visually zing.

Not only do pears exhibit great potential for fall menus, they are also natural, edible still-lives and lend themselves to many promotions that are as enticing to the eye as to the palate. Our "Pear Up" promotion features a mini-pear market that allows curious customers to explore the fruit's diversity. With minimal expense and lots of creativity, we make an old-fashioned farmers' market in our operation by setting up a table, covering it with a festive cloth and piling it with boxes of fresh pears still wrapped in protective tissue paper. Our clients usually rush into the cafeteria with harried expressions and are pleasantly surprised to find us hawking fresh pears like newspapers. It's not long before I'm wrapping up mini-bundles-to-go galore.

Seeking pear perfection

"There are only 10 minutes in the life of a pear when it is perfect to eat," quipped Ralph Waldo Emerson, and he wasn't far from the truth. Pears are usually picked hard as rocks. While bough-ripened blackberries tempt the gods, tree-ripened pears fail to entice anyone with their grittiness. (As with every good rule, there are exceptions: Seckels, for example, ripen to sweetness on the bough.)

Catching pears in their prime can be tricky. It's a mini-miracle to watch a Bartlett turn from green to yellow as it announces its ripeness, but the palettes of Bosc, Anjou and Comice pears don't change color when ripe. A picked pear will mature under your eyes if kept in its wrapper at room temperature. Check it daily, for this process can take from three days to a week. Placing pears in a paper bag with a banana can hasten ripening. Time-pressed chefs can order conditioned pears that ripen within three days of reaching market from their broker. You can refrigerate pears for a few days, if you must, but don't let them turn to sludge in your walk-in. Refrigeration slows — but does not retard — ripening, and firm fruit works best in baking.

When ripe, pears exude a tantalizing fragrance. They respond to the squeeze of your fingers when pressed near the stem. Whether it's a stubby Anjou or an elegant Bosc, the shape of a pear heralds its taste, which necessitates the gentle art of pear coring. Whether you're going to stuff them, bake them or eat them raw, whole pears can be cored from the top (with an apple or pear corer) or from the bottom (with a melon baller or paring knife). Halved pears invite swift scoops from the teaspoon or melon baller. Once pears have been cored, a bath of lemon water prevents any discoloration from tainting the fruit's delicate hue.

A fruit fit for the gods

Although they may lack the mythical mystique of Eve's apple, pears can prove to be plenty tempting. Homer once heralded pears as "the gift of the gods." Time-honored pear dishes like "Poires Belle Helene" (pears dipped in chocolate), named for legendary beauty Helen of Troy and invented by famed chef Escoffier to honor an Offenbach opera, will delight modern-day diners as well. My husband, a chef and author of all our recipes, once made me this classic dessert — a simple poached pear nestled in a bed of ice cream and drowning in chocolate syrup — and it remains a singular culinary event in my mind.

Pears couple beauty with zest, juice with fleshiness, aroma with munchiness. They may ripen quickly and blemish easily, but pears offer an abundance of delights with crunch, and spice to juice up your fall menus.

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