Falstaff
Origin and History
Bred in Italy by crossing two older pear breeds, the Abate Fetel and the Cascade. The Falstaff’s distribution is still quite limited and confined to a few tens of hectares all situated in Emilia Romagna.
Fruit’s shape and size
From a botanical point of view the shape of the Falstaff is “elongated” with a thick and short wood like stem.
Characteristics of ripeness of the skin, the flavour and texture
Falstaff pears are easily recognizable by their red hues that extends over 50% of the skin’s surface. At harvest the pears tend to be greener if not directly exposed to the sunlight. The skin colour is a clear indicator of the fruits ripeness: the more mature the fruit, the more pronounced the peel colours would be: from ruby red to bright red hues, as well as the streaks would change from green colour to a more pronounced yellow. The flesh is white, soft and great tasting with a surprisingly unique zestiness.
Distinguishing features
Falstaff is the most innovative pear. Falstaff and Carmen pears are one of the most important varietal innovations in the industry of the pear tree cultivation.
Harvest
During the 4nd week of August and the 1 week of September.
Available
From 3rd week of September till the end of April. NB: limited production.