Autumn and its wonders
I have always been a child of autumn. It started with the fact that my birthday lands on the 13th of October and I have therefore swore autumn to be the best month of the year, except Christmas of course. As I grew older I started appreciate the mere aesthetics of autumn and how beautiful it looks when the leaves change color and dance around in the wind.
When my interest for food started arising- I realised how amazing autumn is- giving us the fruit from their trees and the berries from their bushes. An amazing time for foraging and gathering food which is becoming oh- so important in our time of day. A way to say- you know what? we need to take a step back and look at what we are doing to our world. A way to be kind to it and not abuse it like we are doing- and have been doing for years. Foraging and gathering our own food is a way of saying ‘I care’ about mother earth.
Wow, that got deep!
Preserved Pears
This weeks recipe is an incredibly easy recipe using freshly picked autumn pears. Perfect for a simple dessert or to be used baked goods. The wonderful thing about preserving fruit is that it keeps for months- even years in a dark room!
Warming spices such as cinnamon, cloves, and star anise are flavors that compliments the pears and pairs incredibly well in a recipe like this. You could also consider vanilla and nutmeg.
All you need to do is put a bunch of pears in a clean sanitized jar, pour over sugar water and spices and boil for some minutes in a saucepan! Easy!
Preserved Pears
Ingredients
2 liter water
500 g sugar
1 tsp cloves, whole
2 star anise
2 cinnamon sticks
8 pears
2 one-liter jars
Instructions
- Start by sanitizing the jars and lid.
- Bring water and sugar to a boil.
- Add the spices and let boil for 10 minutes. Let cool slightly.
- Peel the pears and add them to the jars.
- Pour over the sugar water.
- Add the lid and transfer to a deep saucepan with water.
- Boil the jars for 20 minutes to create a vacume.
- Remove from the water and let cool upside down (lid facing down).
- Store in a cool and dark place (cuppboard) for years.
Notes
This is a base recipe for any preserved fruits- so if you have a whole bunch of different kinds you want to preserve- go for it!
You can sanitize a jar two ways; either boil them for a couple of minutes or put them in the oven on 100 degrees celcius for 10 minutes. I prefer the latter because you can sanitize many at a time and avoid burning issues.
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