Is a bergamot pear a real pear or is it a citrus fruit, and what is the origin of its name?

looney_tunes

I've never heard it called a pear. "The bergamot (citrus bergamia risso) is a small and roughly pear-shaped fragrant citrus fruit native to Calabria, Italy. Today it is also commercially grown in Calabria, Italy. Bergamot grows on small trees which blossom during the spring. The distinctive aroma of the bergamot is most commonly known for its use in Earl Grey tea, though the juice of the fruit has also been used in Calabrian indigenous medicine as an herbal remedy for malaria[1] and its essential oil is popular in aromatherapy applications. The bergamot orange is unrelated to the herbs of the same name, Monarda didyma and Monarda fistulosa, which are in the mint family." The name comes from the Italian 'bergamotta', a modification of Turkish 'bey armudu', literally, the bey's pear. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bergamot_orange Jun 29 09, 4:25 AM

zbeckabee

A real pear...of Calabria and yields a pear-shaped fruit valued by the flavouring and perfume industries for the essential oil extracted from its peel. The bergamot pear, a popular winter pear cultivated in Britain since the time of the Romans, is a large, round fruit. http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/61714/bergamot-pear A type of pear, Pyrus persica. http://www.answers.com/topic/bergamot Hampden's Bergamot (Belle d'Aout; Belle de Bruxelles; Belle sans Epines; Bergamotte d'JEte Grosse; Bergamotte de Pay sans; Ellanrioch; Fanfareau; Fingais; Great Bergamot; Longueville; Scotch Bergamot).— Fruit above medium size, abrupt pyriform. Autumn Bergamot (Bergamot; English Bergamot; York Bergamot). — Below medium size, roundish, and flattened. Skin yellowish-green, brownish-red next the sun, dotted with grey-russet. http://chestofbooks.com/gardening-horticulture/Robert-Hogg/The-Fruit-Manual-Descriptions-and-Synonymes/Pear-Varieties-H.html http://chestofbooks.com/gardening-horticulture/Robert-Hogg/The-Fruit-Manual-Descriptions-and-Synonymes/Pear-Varieties-A.html ETYMOLOGY of Bergamot French bergamote, from Italian bergamotta, from Turkish dialectal beg-armudu, bey's pear : beg, bey; see bey + armud, pear + -u, possessive suff. ETYMOLOGY: Turkish, from Old Turkic beg, ruler, prince. Origin of the Tree- The origin of this tree is obscure both on a geographical and a botanical point of view. Among the various theories, one says that Christopher Colombus brought the plant back from the Antillas or the Canaries to Spain. It then reached Calabria from the town of Berga, near Barcelona, from where it took the name, bergamot. http://www.whitelotusaromatics.com/newsletters/bergamot.html Jun 29 09, 5:54 AM

Baloo55th

The one used for its oils in Calabria is only as much a pear as is an avocado. It is supposedly pear-shaped (like quite a lot of the population where I live...), but is a citrus not a relation of the apple and the cherry. The bergamot pear is a real pear, but it doesn't seem to be very widely grown and I can't find why it has the name. Or, indeed, anything much about it at all. http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O39-bergamot.html There is also a herb called bergamot in the labiate family which is totally unconnected to either of the fruits, being a relation of mint and many other useful (and otherwise) smelly plants. Please note it is -MOT at the end for all of them, and the T is pronounced. The Italian town is Bergamo, and the T isn't pronounced in that. There appears to be no connection, except that some people pronounce the fruit as if it were French which makes it sound like the town... Jun 29 09, 6:40 AM