The Field Guideby Moss & MarrowThe Field Guideby Moss & Marrow
Also called peren, conference, doyenné, stoofperen, gieser wildeman.
In the Netherlands, pears are in season August to November, at their best in September and October. After the harvest, Dutch stores carry them until July. Pears are in season now, in November.
Conference pears, the Dutch standard, are picked in September and sold from store until spring. Cooking pears, stoofperen, come in October.
A pear ripens off the tree; a Conference is ready when the neck gives slightly.
Fibre, including pectin, plus vitamin C, copper and potassium; gentler on most stomachs than apples.
To get the most: Skin on. A ripe pear keeps its vitamin C better than a cooked one; the fibre survives either way.
On our nutrient density chart, a normal serving of pear (180 g) gives about a tenth of a day's vitamin C and about a tenth of a day's vitamin K, counting what your body absorbs.
Content per NEVO, the Dutch food composition database. This describes what the food contains, not what it does for you.
Ripen at room temperature, then refrigerate. Simmer stoofperen for two to three hours in red wine or juice with cinnamon.
Eat the skin. Cores and peel can go into a syrup or a vinegar like apple trimmings.
29 producers in The Field Guide sell pears, according to their own website or shop list, each checked against our inclusion criteria and listed by province. Another 154 growers passed our bar for this food group; we have not yet recorded what each of them grows, so ask them or search the map.
Open on the map →visited by moss & marrowFarm · WageningenVeg & fruitDates read on 2026-10-11. If a window on this page is wrong, tell us with a source.
guideWhy choose local and seasonal food?Food picked ripe in its own season carries more vitamins, travels days instead of weeks and keeps good farms in business. Twelve reasons, with the evidence.Read the guide →
A free list of what’s in season this month, then one slow email a month with seasonal tips and goodies.