FOCUS ON FOOD

Say what you will about King Louis XIV of France — often characterized by his foes as a pompous, philandering tyrant — but he got at least one thing right: The “Sun King” declared the pear to be a royal fruit. Among his more celebrated traits was his passion for fine art and culinary excellence, and with that, the French king recognized the gastronomic value of the often underrated pear.

In the royal kitchen garden at Versailles, the Potager du Roi, Louis XIV planted over 140 different varieties of pear trees! That’s roughly 130 more than the U.S. knows today. There are only 10 key varieties grown commercially across the United States. Europe fares a tad better in this regard: While supermarket pear varieties are also limited, hundreds of heirloom pear types are conserved and fostered by private growers and boutique tree nurseries.

The story of the rise of the pear to Olympic heights continued in France — where else? When composer Jacques Offenbach premiered his hugely successful operetta La belle Hélène in 1864 in Paris, no other than Georges Auguste Escoffier, the “king of chefs and chef of kings,” took it upon himself to create a dish in celebration of the beautiful Helen, the namesake of a dessert that should be known around the globe.

The genius of the recipe for “Poire belle Hélène” lies in its simplicity: poached pears, vanilla ice cream, chocolate. Variations are numerous, and I’m adding my own, slightly simplified version. Instead of a poached whole (or half) pear, I make pear compote, which only takes minutes on the stove and boasts flavor through and through. Vanilla ice cream is hard to top, but a vanilla creme made of yogurt and heavy cream is a stellar, slightly more versatile substitute. Don’t omit any chocolate on my behalf — but cacao nibs are a lovely addition that adds some crunch, in more ways than one.