flipPears in Wine and Honey, a Mouth Remedy
Pears in Wine and Honey, a Mouth Remedy
Why this dish? Medieval medicine held cooked pears to be good for 'closing the stomach' after meat. A sweet and comforting dish, these pears in wine are the mouth care offered to a knight convalescing from his wounds, just as the Lady of the Lake once watched over the child Lancelot.
Whole pears poached in spiced honeyed wine until ruby and tender — a medicinal sweetness that closes the meal and comforts the body.
My sweet foster mother of the Lake told me that after heavy meats, nothing closes the stomach better than a pear cooked in wine. I simmer them whole in honeyed wine until they take the color of ruby and melt under the tooth. It is both remedy and delight, gentle reader; eat of it when your heart is heavy, and you will feel your body lighter to take up the road again.
- •Firm pears — according to the table (poached fruit)
- •Red wine — enough to cover (aromatic bath)
- •Honey — to taste (medicinal sweetness)
- •Cinnamon and ginger — a little (digestive spices)
Pears in Wine and Honey, a Mouth Remedy
Whole pears poached in spiced honeyed wine until ruby and tender — a medicinal sweetness that closes the meal and comforts the body.
Why this dish? Medieval medicine held cooked pears to be good for 'closing the stomach' after meat. A sweet and comforting dish, these pears in wine are the mouth care offered to a knight convalescing from his wounds, just as the Lady of the Lake once watched over the child Lancelot.
My sweet foster mother of the Lake told me that after heavy meats, nothing closes the stomach better than a pear cooked in wine. I simmer them whole in honeyed wine until they take the color of ruby and melt under the tooth. It is both remedy and delight, gentle reader; eat of it when your heart is heavy, and you will feel your body lighter to take up the road again.
Ingredients (period version)
- Firm pears — according to the table (poached fruit)
- Red wine — enough to cover (aromatic bath)
- Honey — to taste (medicinal sweetness)
- Cinnamon and ginger — a little (digestive spices)
Ingredients
- Firm pears (Conference type) — 4 (main fruit)
- Red wine — 50 cl (poaching syrup)
- Honey — 5 tbsp (sweetness)
- Cinnamon stick — 1 (spice)
- Fresh ginger — 3 slices (digestive spice)
- Clove — 2 (fragrance)
- Verjuice or a splash of mild vinegar — 1 tbsp (balancing acidity)
Method
- Peel the pears, keeping the stem; cut a thin slice from the base so they stand upright.
- Bring the wine to a gentle simmer with honey, cinnamon, ginger, clove, and verjuice.
- Submerge the pears and poach covered for 25 to 35 minutes depending on firmness, turning them for even color.
- Remove the pears; reduce the wine by half until a coating syrup forms.
- Coat the pears with syrup; serve warm or cold, at the end of the meal.
How it was made : Medieval cuisine, inseparable from the medicine of 'humors', classified each food as hot/cold and dry/moist. Cooked pear, considered good for digestion, often ended noble meals, poached in spiced wine. Since sugar was rare, honey was the main sweetener, and a balance of spice-sweetness-acidity was always sought.
The contemporary twist : Serve each pear standing upright in a shallow bowl, a mirror of ruby syrup and candied ginger shavings: a very photogenic 'medieval belle pear'.
Sources : Le Ménagier de Paris, c. 1393
Lancelot du Lac · Charactorium
