I am hoping soon to have more time to spend cooking medieval recipes. A glut of ripe pears inspired me to investigate different recipes for lightly stewed pears that might appeal to my family's very modern palate.
Stock footage from https://www.medieval-recipes.com/recipes/desserts/
Here are some medieval recipes:
"
To conserve wardens all the yeere in sirrop. Take your wardens and put them into a great earthenware pot, and cover them close. Set them in an oven where you have set in your white bread. and when you have drawn your white bread, and your pot, and they are so cold that you may handle them, then peel the thin skin from them over a pewter dish so that you may save all the syrup that falls from them. add to them a quart of the same syrup, and a pint of rosewater, and boil them together with a few cloves and cinnamon. When it is reasonably thick and cold, put your wardens and syrup into a galley pot and see always that the syrup is above the wardens, or any other thing that you conserve."
From The Good Huswife's Jewell (Second Part) 1597 - Thomas Dawson
The original recipe: 9
6 Peris in Syrippe. Take Wardons, and cast hem in a faire potte, And boile hem til ei ben tendre; and take hem vppe, and pare hem in ij. or in iij. And take powder of Canell, a good quantite, and cast hit in good red wyne, And cast sugur thereto, and put hit in an erthen potte, And lete 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/
A modern English translation: 96 Pears in Syrup. Take Wardons, and cast them in a fair pot, And boil them till they are tender; and take them up, and pare them in two or in three. And take powder of Cinnamon, a good quantity, and cast it in good red wine, And cast sugar thereto, and put it in an earthenware pot, And let boil; And then cast the pears thereto, And let them boil together awhile; take powder of ginger, And a little saffron to color it with, And look that it is poignant/ And also Sweet/
From 1450 Harleian MS. 4016 available at https://cheftalk.com/ams/pears-in-syrup.6638/
88. Perys in Syrup
Boyle wardons that they be somdell tendyr pare hem cut hem yn pecys take canell a grete dele draw hit thorow a streynour iij or iiij tymys with good wyn in a pott do ther to sygure a grete dele poudyr of gynger anneys clovis & macys and yf thu wilte datys mynsyd & reysons of coraunce set hit on the fyre when hit boyleth cast yn the perys lete hem boyle to gedyr when hit ys boyled y nowghe loke hit be broun of canell & put ther to poudyr of gynger a grete dele loke hit be somdele doucet & serve hit forth.
From the Wagstaff Miscellany c 1460
This recipe is most like the following one for wardens in syrup from Two Fifteenth-Century Cookery-Books. The basic ingredients, steps, and spicing are all there. The Wagstaff recipe's optional addition of dates and currants makes it more like the "pears in compost" recipes.
x - Wardonys in syryp. Take wardonys, an caste on a potte, and boyle hem till they ben tender; than take hem vp and pare hem, an kytte hem in to pecys; take y-now of powder of canel, a good quantyte, an caste it on red wyne, an draw it thorw a straynour; caste sugre ther-to, an put it in an erthen pot, an let it boyle: an thanne caste the perys ther-to, an let boyle to-gederys, an whan they haue boyle a whyle, take pouder of gyngere an caste therto, an a lytil venegre, an a lytil safron; an loke that it be poynaunt an dowcet. [Two Fifteenth-Century Cookery-Books (England, 1430)]
From http://medievalcookery.blogspot.com/2014/01/recipes-from-wagstaff-miscellany-88.html
Since I wasn't actually preserving hard pears, but just cooking ripe pears for dessert, they didn't require much cooking.
The Closet of Sir Kenelm Digby Knight has a recipe for Preserved Wardens which is very similar and uses red wine. I had white wine available, and felt that it might be more appealing to my family who are not very used to or comfortable with medieval food. I took aspects from all these recipes and created something that has medieval elements but would also be appealing to the modern palate.
I added about 750g of peeled and trimmed pear pieces to a heavy splash (probably 1/2 cup) of sweet white wine. The pears were juicy and I had saved and added the juice when cutting as suggested in the Good Huswife recipe. I added 100g of sugar, 2 tsp of cinnamon powder, 1/4 tsp of nutmeg, some cloves, 2 tsp of rosewater and let it simmer gently til the pears were soft and warmed through.
The simmering liquor was absolutely fragrant and delicious and would make a wonderful mulled white wine.
Just before serving, I stirred through a little cream.
The dish was lovely, and very well received with requests to do it again. I might add an egg or two next time and turn it into a sort of baked custard.
