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“Pera cocomera” is an Italian pear variety. It is cultivated in the Tiber valley, in Emilia-Romagna, Toscana, Umbria and Marche. Not so far away from Monte Fumaiolo there are still about thirty specimens of this plant, also known as “pera cocomerina” (because  of the small dimensions) or “pera briaca” (because of its characteristic red colour which reminds of the wine).
This fruit, sweet and scented, has a green peel and a bright coloured pulp at the centre of the fruit, while around the seeds it has a bright pink colour. The form is oval, small, its weight is included between 20 and 60 grammes.
The pear can be kept for a short time and it is really sensitive to scab: it has to be consumed immediately, soon after the harvest (end of August and end of October), nearly when they are falling down, otherwise many of their organoleptic characteristics. Because of this, it is consumed as it is or it is transformed into syrups or marmalades.
To give value and increase the cultivation, it has become in  2003 a Presidio Sloow Food and an association has been constituted, which has connected all the farmers on the territory and occupies to collect each year the harvest and to either sell it or transform it into marmalades made with natural ingredients.

This post is also available in: Italiano (Italian)