At this time of year, apples are cheerful and ready to go, crisp and snappy right off the tree. But as anyone who’s tried to wrench her teeth from an underripe Anjou or rocklike Seckel knows, pears are much more moody. They need to be left alone to brood, softening secretly from the inside out until they’re silky-skinned, fragrant, and responsive to the gentlest prod of a fingertip. At their best, pears have a honeyed, dusky sweetness that never cloys, pairing beautifully with a glass of cab or pinot, a crumbling wedge of cheese, and a handful of toasted nuts.

While chefs and home cooks alike love all the usual autumn varieties—plump yellow or ruby-red Bartletts, hefty Comices, dainty Seckels, and speckled, elongated Forelles—serious pear fans seek out hard-to-find Warrens (pictured), a variety known for its smooth texture.

AT THE MARKET
Unlike most tree fruits, which are best picked fully ripe, pears turn squishy and insipid when left to hang too long. For optimum flavor and texture, they should be harvested mature but not quite ripe, then chilled in cold storage anywhere from three weeks to several months.

Warren pears, first discovered by Thomas Oscar Warren growing in a neighbor’s backyard in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, are still a rarity on the West Coast. In the greater Bay Area, you’ll find them at Frog Hollow Farm at the Ferry Building, and at the Live Earth Farm stand at several farmers’ markets in the Santa Cruz region, including the one in Los Gatos.

While the Warren’s parentage is obscure, Al Courchesne of Frog Hollow Farm figures some Seckel and some Comice must be in the gene pool. “On one tree, you can get one-pound, Comice-sized fruit along with some three-ounce, Seckel-sized ones. A Warren has the high sugar content of a Seckel, with the complexity, succulence, and juicy melting quality of a great Comice,” he says. “And it has a very thin skin and no grit cells—nothing to give you that unpleasant, gritty feeling in your mouth.”

“We start picking our Warren pears in August, then put them into cold storage for at least a month. They keep their flavor and texture really well in the cold, so we’ll have them through the holidays,” says Courchesne. Buy your pears while they’re still firm, then leave them to ripen at room temperature until they begin to soften and shrivel slightly around the stem. Depending on when

they were picked, Warren pears can range from green to yellow; but for the best flavor, Courchesne advises looking for a pale yellow background color, with just a hint of red blush. A pear may take anywhere from a day or two to up to a week to come to the perfect point of ripeness.

ON THE MENU
At Chez Panisse Café (1517 Shattuck Ave., Berkeley, 510-548-5525), Frog Hollow’s Warren pears are served straight up, accompanied by Black Mission figs and new-crop Barhi dates.

Pear-lemon-ginger marmalade is in Rachel Saunders’ autumn lineup at Blue Chair Fruit. The sought-after preserves of this one-woman company are on the morning menus at Pizzaiolo (5008 Telegraph Ave., Oakland, 510-652-4888) and Brown Sugar Kitchen (2534 Mandela Pkwy., Oakland, 510-839-7685), where they’re served with thick slices of Acme levain toast and buttery housemade biscuits, respectively.

Peter McNee, exec­utive chef at Poggio (777 Bridgeway, Sau­sa­lito, 415-332-7771), pairs thyme-roasted Forelles with farro and spit-roasted game hens, while sliced and roasted Boscs are fanned out over caramelized onions, speck, and Italian fontina on a wood-fired pizza. Red Bartletts add sweetness to duck confit with cracked almonds and radicchio.

IN THE KITCHEN
At Domaine Chandon’s Étoile restaurant (1 California Dr., Yountville, 707-204-7529), October brings a sparkling pear cocktail to the menu. To make 2 cocktails, you’ll need 1 very ripe Bartlett or Warren pear, 1 ounce simple syrup, and 1 cup sparkling wine or champagne. Cut 2 slim slices from the pear and set aside. Peel, core, and dice the remaining pear. In a cocktail shaker, muddle pear and simple syrup into a chunky purée. Shake with ice, add sparkling wine, and swirl, then strain into 2 champagne flutes. Drop a pear slice into each glass as a garnish