When I was a little girl, my parents used to drive our family to Italy in the summer to visit my maternal grandparents, and many of our relatives.
It was so wonderful for me for so many different reasons: the weather was fabulous compared to Scotland; I was allowed to run around the village unsupervised; we would go to the beach, and I could actually go into the water (not like the lochs in Scotland, which were always freezing!) and of course, the food was incredible!
One of my best memories is of Zia (Aunt) Maria going under my nonni's (grandparents') exterior stairs where there was a little storage cupboard, and pulling out tiny homemade bottles of "succo di frutta" ("fruit juice" but it means fruit puree) for my brothers and I to drink on a hot day. She used to make peach, apricot and pear, and I can remember exactly how they taste to this day. Each one was better than the other, and I never could decide which was my favorite, because they all tasted like nectar from heaven!
I was in an Italian grocery store last week and I spied this little bottle of "succo di frutta" made from pear, and it reminded me of when I was very young. It was made in Italy, and I bought it thinking it would taste like I remembered as a little girl, however, I didn't read the ingredients until I arrived home. What a disappointment!
Like everything else, things change, and often not for the better. This nectar contains sugar, glucose-fructose syrup and other added ingredients! What a shame, when all that is really necessary is some tasty fruit, the way it used to be made.
PEAR NECTAR
makes one serving:
1 large, organic, ripe pear
few cubes of ice
I decided to make my own in my Vitamix, so I peeled a pear, added some ice and blended away!
I didn't add any sugar whatsoever as the pears I had were deliciously sweet.
This is what the end product looks like...so delicious! This must be enjoyed immediately, as the drink will get thick and turn brown if left for some time, which won't be very appealling!
You can do the same with apricots or peaches, or really any fruit you enjoy. There are some fruits to which you'd really like to add some sweetener to, such as strawberries or rapberries. However, remember to keep your options open to things like honey, maple syrup, agave sweetener, etc. which are all fabulous when used in smoothie and blended drinks.
Here are some other ideas to incorporate more fruit into your diet~
That's interesting, I actually have never thought of drinking a pear :)
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