Pears and Cuckoo Tears

Amongst the pear family, Boscs are my favourites. I love them for their elegant shape, manifesting itself in those elongated necks, for their warm honey colour and coarse, speckled skin, and for their slightly crunchy, piquant flesh. They pair perfectly with soft goat cheese, but we recently discovered the lovely combination of raw Gruyere cheese and Bosc pears. Gruyere is a bit too pungent to eat by itself, so the juicy pears do a fine job of flattering the cheese with their unforgettable freshness. Cutting the Gruyere into small cubes brings the salad to a new height. Due to their miniature size, the cubes are able to melt in your mouth, leaving a pleasant crystal-like crunch.






Fresh salad mix
One ripe (but not over ripe) Bosc pear per person - cut into wedges
Raw Gruyere cheese (Switzerland) - cut into small cubes
Walnuts or pecans - raw, untoasted
Some freshly ground black pepper - to taste
Olive oil for drizzling

A curiosity: Those purple flowers have been popping up all over the place recently - oh, spring. In Russia, we call them "the cuckoo's tears."

You can find this kind of Gruyere cheese in Whole Foods stores, like many other raw cheeses.
Apologies to vegan readers, more cheese-less recipes are coming up.

Lastly, we'd like to thank the dear reader Joanna for nominating us for Babble's Best Mom Food Blogger. If you agree with her, we would greatly appreciate your vote. The best way of finding Golubka in the long list is sorting it alphabetically - then you'll find us on page 2. You don't have to register to "Like," so it will only take a second. Merci Beaucoup!
Post by: A