It’s fresh pear season around here, although my favorite variety—the Comice—arrives a bit later. No fruit is a better friend to cheese, in my view. The juicy, honeyed flavor and melting texture of a ripe pear is so compatible with pecorino, blue cheese, and fresh cheeses like ricotta. Italians even have a proverb about the pairing: Al contadino non far sapere quant’è buono il cacio con le pere. Don’t tell the farmer how good cheese is with his pears. Like most proverbs, there’s more to this saying than meets the eye.