A precious pear

MOSSEL BAY NEWS - A Mossel Bay man owns a really old pear. It is encased in a bottle and preserved in alcohol - Witblits.

The bottle owned by Ray Thackray of Da Nova in Mossel Bay, was bought in 1984 - 36 years ago.

Ray says: "By 1985 the liqueur was finished, but I kept putting Witblits in the bottle." Ray says the Witblits does not have the taste of a pear anymore. The pear lost its 'flavouring ability' after about a year.

Ray adds that in terms of the perfectly preserved pear: "It just goes to show how good alcohol is."

One wonders how the pear got into the bottle. Well, in Europe, while the pears are still only buds on the tree, bottles are placed around them and secured to the tree. The pears then grow within the bottles. The liqueur or brandy manufacturer cuts the pear and bottle off the tree when the pear is fully grown, places alcohol in the bottle and then seals it. The pear flavours the alcohol around it. The bottle which Ray has is branded Poire william etrangere.

A search on Wikipedia yields the following result: "Poire Williams is the name for eau de vie (colourless fruit brandy) made from the Williams pear (also known as Williams' bon chrétien and as the Bartlett pear in the United States, Canada and Australia). It is generally served chilled as an after-dinner drink. Some producers of Poire Williams include an entire pear inside each bottle. This is achieved by attaching the bottle to a budding pear tree so that the pear will grow inside it."

Some websites describe the drink as a brandy and others as a liqueur.

Now, because of the long lockdown and the ban on alcohol, the only drink Ray and his wife, who enjoy a tipple now and then, have left, is the Witblits in the "pear bottle" and another small jam bottle of Witblits with preserved green grapes in it.

One wonders if there is anyone else in the world who has a pear as old as Ray's. He could try to win a Guinness World Record.

If you have a preserved fruit that old, contact the Mossel Bay Advertiser (lindas@groupeditors.co.za) and tell us about it.

Ray Thackray with his pear in a bottle.