flipPears Preserved in Wine and Honey
Pears Preserved in Wine and Honey
Why this dish? A royal household like Berthe's lived on its cellar reserves between harvests. Cooking autumn pears in wine and honey made them last through winter: this is the discreet stewardship of a great lady, who managed counties and palaces from Blois to the Île de la Cité.
Firm pears slowly confited in wine, honey, and cinnamon, preserved in their syrup: a keepable sweet, fragrant and slightly tart, drawn from the cellar all winter.
When autumn comes and the pear trees bend, I let nothing go to waste: we cook the still-firm fruits in wine and honey, with a stick of cinnamon, until they take the color of embers. Put in pots with their syrup, they last until Lent and sweeten our winter days. A well-kept house is known by its cellar—remember this, you who wish to rule.
- •Firm pears — a good supply (fruit to preserve)
- •Wine — enough to cover (cooking and preserving medium)
- •Honey — generously (sweetener and preservative)
- •Cinnamon — a stick (flavor)
- •Ginger — a pinch (spice)
Pears Preserved in Wine and Honey
Firm pears slowly confited in wine, honey, and cinnamon, preserved in their syrup: a keepable sweet, fragrant and slightly tart, drawn from the cellar all winter.
Why this dish? A royal household like Berthe's lived on its cellar reserves between harvests. Cooking autumn pears in wine and honey made them last through winter: this is the discreet stewardship of a great lady, who managed counties and palaces from Blois to the Île de la Cité.
When autumn comes and the pear trees bend, I let nothing go to waste: we cook the still-firm fruits in wine and honey, with a stick of cinnamon, until they take the color of embers. Put in pots with their syrup, they last until Lent and sweeten our winter days. A well-kept house is known by its cellar—remember this, you who wish to rule.
Ingredients (period version)
- Firm pears — a good supply (fruit to preserve)
- Wine — enough to cover (cooking and preserving medium)
- Honey — generously (sweetener and preservative)
- Cinnamon — a stick (flavor)
- Ginger — a pinch (spice)
Ingredients
- Firm pears (Conference, Comice) — 6 (main fruit)
- Red wine (or grape juice) — 500 ml (cooking and preserving)
- Honey — 6 tbsp (sweetness and preservation)
- Cinnamon — 1 stick (flavor)
- Ground ginger — 1 pinch (spice)
Method
- Peel the pears, keeping the stems, and place them in a narrow saucepan.
- Cover with wine (or grape juice), add the honey, cinnamon, and ginger.
- Simmer gently for 25 to 35 min, until the pears are tender and colored.
- Remove the pears, reduce the syrup by half.
- Pack the pears into a sterilized jar, cover with hot syrup, and seal: they will keep for several weeks in a cool place.
How it was made : Before refined sugar, fruits were preserved in honey and wine, which inhibit spoilage. These 'pears in wine' stocked seigneurial larders and reappeared at table at the end of meals as a comforting sweet during the cold months.
The contemporary twist : Serve a whole pear standing upright in a bowl, coated with its syrup reduced to a mirror glaze and a spark of cinnamon, like a dessert from an illuminated manuscript.
Berthe de Bourgogne · Charactorium
