Today we celebrate a dessert with all kinds of weird grammar symbols in the name. It’s National Pears Hélène Day! Seriously, what are those weird slash mark thingies over the letter e? And, for that matter, what is Pears Hélène?
An old-fashioned dessert that is rarely seen anymore, that’s what. The dish was created by esteemed French chef and restaurateur Georges Auguste Escoffier, the same fella responsible for Peach Melba, in 1864. (The guy was all over the food map, inventing dishes left and right. We’ll be talking about him again when we celebrate Melba toast). The dessert was inspired by the opera La Belle Hélène, a historical reconstruction of the love triangle between Helen of Troy (“the face that launched a thousand ships and a Brad Pitt movie”), Paris, and Menelas. Escoffier decided that pears poached in sugar syrup and served with vanilla ice cream, chocolate sauce, and crystallized violets would perfectly represent the opera. Over the years the dessert was simplified, with sliced pears replacing the poached ones and slivered almonds standing in for the crystallized violets. Whew! I’d have hated to try and find that ingredient.
Pears Hélène looked, and sounded, complicated when I first read about it, but in reality the simplified version is pretty easy. If we didn’t have plans tonight I might have considered poaching a whole pear, but we decided instead to go the simple route. Sliced pears, vanilla ice cream, chocolate sauce, and slivered almonds. A little bowl at lunchtime. It was decent, though I’m sure using a real poached pear instead of a generic brand of pear halves in lite syrup would have upped the wow quotient.
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- Pears Hélène Martini (daydreamerdesserts.com)
Eat My Words 
crystallized violets are tiny violet flowers boiled in sugar syrup. Easy to make, delicious to eat and a very pretty garnish. The only hard part is finding them in season. High end grocery stores and bakeries sometimes carry them. On another note, I had no idea eating pears and ice cream with chocolate sauce have a fancy schmacy name! Won’t I be a star at my next dinner party – Of course I will say it with my french accent because I am fluent in french accent…french not so much.
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Thanks for the info. I assumed crystallised violets were something that went out of fashion a couple hundred years ago! You is smart.
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Looks wonderful!
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Phonically…how would you pronounce “Hélène?”
I’m guessing Hell lean with a long ‘e’.
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I assume it’s pronounced the way you are pronouncing it, but I’m not sure, to be honest. Those weird grammar symbols have thrown me for a loop. Plus, in French, Helen sounds like Ellen, so who knows? Maybe it’s El-leen.
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I bet David would know…I’ll get back to you….lol
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What did David say?!
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