What you see is called an Asian pear. As you might guess it originated in Eastern Asia and is traditional given as a gift or shared with family. It is far more crisp than the European pear and has too much juice to make it a great pie fruit. A local grower was selling his first commercial harvest, after eight years of growing, at the Eureka farmers market last week. I bought some and decided to poach them in wine with cardamom.
You take 10 to 12 cardamom pods and place them in a sauce pan. Cardamom is typically used as a baking and sweets spice that gives a slightly cinnamon flavor without the bite and a very strong perfume.
I poached the fruit in an inexpensive riesling to which I added two or three teaspoons of sugar.
I peeled and cored the fruit and submerged them in the wine/cardamom blend. That comes to a boil and the you reduce the heat to a slow simmer. You cook the fruit until you can easily pierce it with a sharp knife, but the fruit has not turned mushy.
Once the fruit is done, you remove it from the liquid and chill the fruit. I cut sticks of sharp cheese and stick them in the hole for service.
Of course a berry reduction smear across the plate would make everything more classy, but I didn't bother. If you do, I recommend currant.
No comments:
Post a Comment