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Stewed Pears
Take small, acid pears and wipe, leaving stems and skins as they are or halving if of larger size. To two quarts of pears allow one pint of maple sugar and one-fourth pint of water. Place all in a kettle at once and cook till tender. White sugar and lemon peel (in strips or grated) may be substituted.
A simple sugar-and-water stew that depends entirely on using firm, tart pears — soft dessert pears collapse into sauce. The measurements are all by volume, in the style of the period.
- QuantitiesTwo quarts of small whole pears is roughly 2 1/2 to 3 lb. A pint of maple sugar is about 14-16 oz granulated; a quarter pint of water is 1/2 cup.
- That is a lot of sugarA pint of sugar to two quarts of fruit gives a heavy syrup, closer to a preserve than a compote. Half the sugar still produces a good syrup if you are serving the pears as dessert rather than keeping them.
- Maple sugarHard-pressed cakes of maple sugar were a farm staple; today you will find granulated maple sugar in small bags, and it is expensive. Maple syrup works in its place, but because syrup is largely water you will need more than a pint by volume to match the sweetness, and the added water can be reduced or left out.
- "Kettle"A broad, heavy-bottomed pot, not a teakettle. Depth matters less than width: the pears should sit in a single layer so they cook evenly and keep their shape.
- The pears"Small, acid pears" means hard cooking varieties; small firm sorts such as Seckel or Forelle, or any underripe Bosc, will stand up to the pot. Stems left on are decorative and make the fruit easier to lift; skins hold the pears together.
- Timing"Till tender" is 25 to 45 minutes at a bare simmer, depending on how hard the fruit is. A rolling boil splits the skins and pulls the pears apart, so keep the heat low and turn them once or twice rather than stirring.
- Lemon peelIf you use white sugar instead, the lemon peel is not optional — it supplies the character the maple would have given. Strips are easier to fish out than grated zest.
- Yield and keepingServes six as a dessert or side dish, warm or cold. Refrigerated in its syrup it keeps about a week; this is not a canning recipe and should not be treated as one.
Stewed pears belong to the long tradition of making hard, gritty "cooking pears" edible — varieties bred for keeping rather than eating out of hand, which stay stony until heat and sugar soften them. The maple sugar here suggests, though it does not prove, a northeastern United States or Canadian setting, where maple long served as a domestic sweetener; that the book offers white sugar as the alternative, with lemon peel added to make up for lost flavor, shows the two sweeteners still in competition. Books of fruit cookery multiplied around the turn of the twentieth century as home canning and orchard growing spread.