Quotation from: Manners, Custom and Dress During the Middle Ages and During the Renaissance Period

Written by: Paul Lacroix


Of pears, the most esteemed in the thirteenth century were the
_hastiveau_, which was an early sort, and no doubt the golden pear now
called St. Jean, the _caillou_ or _chaillou_, a hard pear, which came from
Cailloux in Burgundy and _l'angoisse_ (agony), so called on account of its
bitterness--which, however, totally disappeared in cooking. In the
sixteenth century the palm is given to the _cuisse dame_, or _madame_; the
_bon chretien_, brought, it is said, by St. Francois de Paule to Louis
XI.; the _bergamote_, which came from Bergamo, in Lombardy; the
_tant-bonne_, so named from its aroma; and the _caillou rosat_, our
rosewater pear.

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