Asian Pear & Gouda Grilled Cheese

Asian pears can usually be found next to the regular pears, they are round (not pear-shaped) and often cradled in a webbing of Styrofoam. My good friend Calvin introduced them to me years ago in college; he said that when they went on family vacations, his father used to buy them and take them back to whichever hotel they were staying in, fill the sink with ice and water, and chill the pears. Then when they got back from a day of hot sweaty sight seeing, they would have the cool crisp pears waiting for them. That story always stuck with me, and the first time I saw a bunch of them nestled in the store, I snatched them up. Indeed, a chilled ripe Asian pear is quite something--when you bite into it, it is crisp like an apple, but juicy like a good pear. A ripe one is never mushy or mealy like some of the regular pears can often be. Try slices of it between good toasted bread, with thick melted gouda oozing out the sides.
+ + = YUM