Sweet Pickled Pears or Peaches

A standard American sweet pickle: fruit poached in a spiced sugar-vinegar syrup, then held in the syrup. The instructions are compressed, so the working order matters more than the wording.

• Order of operationsBring the sugar, vinegar and spice bag to a boil, cook the fruit until a skewer slides in easily, then lift the fruit into jars and pour the boiling syrup over it. The wording here ('pour the hot syrup over them') is ambiguous as to whether the fruit was cooked in the syrup or drained and covered afterwards; either reading works, and the vinegar is what makes it a pickle rather than a stewed fruit.
• Choose firm fruitSmall hard pears (Seckel) and firm, slightly underripe peaches hold their shape; fully ripe fruit collapses in an acid syrup. Freestone peaches are easier to pit. Peel pears and leave them whole with the stem on; loosen peach skins in boiling water for 30 seconds, then halve and pit.
• "Until tender" in numbersExpect 10 to 15 minutes at a bare simmer for peach halves and 20 to 40 minutes for whole small pears, depending on hardness. Keep the liquid below a rolling boil or the fruit breaks up and clouds the syrup.
• Whole spices, not groundThe spices go in a cloth bag because whole cloves and cinnamon bark can be lifted out; ground spice will not strain and turns the syrup muddy brown. Use about 1 tablespoon whole cloves and two 3-inch cinnamon sticks for the quantity here.
• The vinegarCider vinegar of the period was not standardised and varied in strength; today's bottled cider vinegar is 5 percent acidity. Do not dilute it or substitute a low-acid or homemade vinegar of unknown strength, since the acid is doing the preserving work alongside the sugar.
• The stone jar is the outdated partA crock with a close cover kept this on a cold cellar shelf; a warm modern kitchen will grow mould and yeast on the surface within weeks. Follow a current tested procedure for water-bath processing and sealing, or simply refrigerate the jars and eat them within a month.
• Yield and restingSix pounds of fruit fills roughly five or six pint jars. The flavour is thin on day one; the spice and vinegar need two to three weeks to move into the fruit.
• ServingThese are a condiment, not a dessert. One or two halves alongside roast pork, ham, goose or cold cuts is the traditional use.