Pears in cinnamon syrup

Pears in cinnamon syrup

A good hard English pear takes some beating and medieval cooks knew all the best ways of preparing and serving them.

This recipe is suitable for either hot or cold days – for a summer treat just chill the pears in their syrup and serve with a little cream.

Ingredients to serve 4 people (takes about ½ an hour to prepare)

• 4 hard pears
• ½ bottle of red wine
• 1 tablespoon of ground cinnamon
• 3 tablespoons of brown sugar
• 10 stems of dried saffron

Method

• Take the whole pears and put them in a pot with enough water to cover them.

• Boil until the pears are just soft to the touch but not in any way mushy.

Cook's note: The pears will change colour as the skin becomes soft enough to peel.

• Remove from the boiling water and peel the fruit, then cut each pear in half lengthways.

• Carefully remove the stringy core with a sharp knife before carefully placing the pieces in a pot. Try not to break the pears into pieces

• Take the dried saffron stems and grind well in a pestle and mortar. Add a tablespoonful of boiling water, stir well then pour the mixture over the pears and allow to soak in for ten to fifteen minutes. This will colour the pears a rich golden yellow.

• Add enough red wine to cover the golden pears.

• Add one flat tablespoon of ground cinnamon and five heaped tablespoons of brown sugar.

• Boil until the pears are tender, the sugar has dissolved and the wine has thoroughly absorbed the flavour of the cinnamon.

• Serve 2 pear halves per person, hot or chilled, coated in the thick syrup. Decorate with seasonal berries or perhaps some fresh green leaves.

Cook's Note: The sauce should have a sweet and sour quality that compliments the taste of the pears.

Perris in Syrippe

Take Wardons and cast hem in a fair potte, And boile hem til hei ben tender; and take hem up and pare him. And take powder of Canell, a good quantitite, and cast hit in good red wyne, And cast sugur thereto, and put hit in an erthenpot, ant let boile; And then cast the peris thereto, And late hem boile togidre awhile; take powder of ginger, And a litell saffron to colloure hit with, And loke that hit be poynante and also Doucet.

Harleian Ms.4016 – dated around 1450

Pears in cinnamon syrup, 6.3 out of 10 based on 3 ratings