Pears in Confit (Original, Translation, and Recreation Notes)

Original is from Curye on Inglysch, ed. Hieatt & Butler. Translation into modern English is my own.

Peeres in Confyt, Forme of Curye #136: "Take peeres and pare hem clene. Take gode rede wyne & mulberies, oþer saundres, and seeþ þe peeres þerin, & whan þei buth ysode, take hem vp. Make a syryp of wyne greke, oþer vernage, with blaunche powdur, oþer white sugur and powdour gynger, & do the peres þerin. Seeþ it a lytel & messe it forth."

Translation: Pears in Confit [Poached Pears]. Take pears and peel them ["pare them clean," I'm taking liberties a little by calling that "peeling"]. Take good red wine and mulberries or saunders [red sandalwood, a food coloring agent], and seethe [boil/simmer] the pears therein, and when they are seethed, [take the pears out of the liquid]. Make a syrup of Greek wine or "a strong, sweet Italian wine" [translation for "vernage" from the CoI glossary], with white powder, or sugar and powdered ginger, and do [put] the pears therein. Seethe it a little and mess it forth [serve it].

Recreation:

I peeled two bosc pears and cored them, but left the stems on because I think that makes for a nice presentation. I put them in a pot with a bottle of red wine and simmered them gently for 20 minutes, then turned them over (so they would be red all over) and poached them for another 20 minutes. At this point I removed the pears from the wine, strained the wine, and returned the wine to the pot. I added 1/4 cup of sugar and quite a lot of powdered ginger. I started by adding "just a little" and then decided that wasn't enough, so I kept adding "just a little more" until I had really lost track. For the quantities given, if you want to make this I would recommend using about a teaspoon of ginger (if you like ginger, less if you don't). I simmered the wine until the sugar was dissolved, put the pears back in, and simmered about 5 minutes. I served the pears in the wine.

Interpretive notes:

I took some liberties with this one. I omitted the saunders/mulberry completely, and I only used one type of wine for both the seething and the syrup that they are served in because I'm a cheapskate. I also think that I should have cooked the wine down (like a reduction) to get the "syrup" stated by the recipe. In fact, I still have half a pear and a lot of gingery, sweet wine left, so maybe I'll just do that. I used way to much ginger.

ETA: I boiled down the remaining sauce and it did make a lovely syrup, however this made the ginger predictably unbearable. I would recommend using maybe a half teaspoon of ginger for this recipe.

Verdict:

Did I mention how much to much ginger I used? BECAUSE THIS TASTED LIKE BURNING. But it was still really good. Better Half liked it, too, although she did comment that it needed vanilla (!)

Photos:

Pears ready to be poached.

Served -- notice that the sauce is thin. This is a mistake, and made hard to eat.