For Immediate Release
October 7, 2009
Contact: Eleanor Bertino Public Relations
(415) 788-1953 or office@eleanorbertinopr.com
Frog Hollow’s “Farmer Al” Raves About the Warren Pear
Chez Panisse agrees, featuring it in it’s famed fruit bowl
- Available online at www.froghollow.com-
Brentwood, CA: A decade ago, Farmer Al Courchesne of Frog Hollow Farm became a national legend as a celebrity farmer thanks to his superlative, organically grown peaches. He was looking to keep his customers just as happy into the fall and, through a serendipitous meeting with a California fruit forager, he was introduced to the little known Warren Pear. “I’ve been in love with this pear since I first tasted it.” According to Al, “Pears don’t have the sex appeal of peaches to many people, but I think the Warren Pear is about to change that.”
These delicious, sensual fruits have become a favorite of Bay Area customers who encountered them at farmers markets. Many were also introduced to them at Chez Panisse in Berkeley, CA where Alice Waters serves only the very best fruit in her hallmark copper fruit bowls. At Chez Panisse, Frog Hollow’s Warren Pears are the hands down pear of choice. The pears are also available at www.froghollow.com/pears until January. They are shipped to customers at peak, ready to eat, ripeness, and include instructions for holding the pears if they are to be served later. A 6-pack box of Warren Pears sells for $24.00 in the online store and a 12-pack sells for $34.00, plus shipping.
Courchesne is one of only two commercial growers of this variety in California. Thomas Oscar Warren, a horticulturalist in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, discovered the pears growing in front of the town post office and, while the Warren Pear has been likened to the Magness Pear, Warren believed he had stumbled onto a unique variety which has carried his name ever since. Courchesne now grows 11 acres of the Warren Pears. Now, he looks forward to mid-August every year when the pears start to ripen, walking his fruit blocks on a daily basis to personally check on how the Warren Pears are progressing.
Becky Courchesne, Farmer Al’s wife and a pastry chef, likes to bake the Warren Pears in a puff pastry Galette, a rustic French tart, and features them in her Caramel Pear Ice Cream. The pears pair beautifully with fresh Italian Gorgonzola cheese, and other blue cheeses, and are delicious served with a California Riesling wine.
Farmer Al Courchesne farms 130 acres in the Sacramento River Delta where he grows over 100 varieties of fruit, producing some of the country’s most coveted fruit. In addition to the Warren Pears, the Frog Hollow online store sells tree-ripened peaches, cherries, apricots, nectarines, Asian pears, pluots, and plums; an assortment of pastries; and its artisanal conserves and chutneys. Visit www.froghollow.com or call (888) 779-4511. Members of the media may request samples of the Warren Pears by contacting Eleanor Bertino Public Relations at (415) 788-1953 or office@eleanorbertinopr.com
