PEARS IN PLENTY

New Zealand Listener, Volume 16, Issue 409, 24 April 1947, Page 26

PEARS IN PLENTY

EARS are such a delicately--flavoured fruit that they are agreeable to most people. Be careful, however, of the juice staining your handkerchiefs or the children’s frocks. It looks so colourless that one is apt to be less careful than with blackberries or plums; but it leaves-a brown stain. You can generally remove this by soaking in a thick paste made with powdered starch and’ water (or even,flour and water if no starch is available, or soaked white bread). Leave for 24 hours and‘ then wash as usual. This will not hurt either colour or material, Preserved Pears Peel the fruit with a sharp knife, cut in halves, or, if large pears, in quarters. Remove a little of the hard core. Drop the peeled pears into slightly salted water until ready to pack into the jars. Pack as closely as possible into the clean ‘bottles, and cover with syrup made of 1 cup of sugar to 3 cups of water. If sugar is scarce, just fill with plain boiled water, slightly cooled. Or you can make a honey syrup with 1 or 2 tablespoons of honey to a pint of water boiled together for 10 minutes; or a syrup made by boiling 4 tablespoons of golden syrup to each pint of water. Add a few cloves to each jar, to give added flavour, and about 1 or 2 teaspoons of lemon juice. Adjust the rubber, and lid, loosely. Sterilise in the oven for an hour, or hour and a-quarter, till the fruit is obviously cooked. Then seal immediately, agd stand-upside down to test the seal. The fruit may also be sterilised in the water-bath, Pear Ginger ~ Peel, and cut small, 3lb. pears. Cook with the juice and grated rind of 2 Jemons, and 1 pint of water. When the fruit is cooked, add 3lb. of warmed sugar; and 2o0z, whole bruised ginger, in a bag. Bottle while hot, after testing on a plate in the usual way. Remove the ginger. Pear Menikelade Use 4lb. of nearly ripe pears; 3b. of sugar; 2 lermions; a piece of whole ginger; and 1 pint of water. Peel, core and cut the pears in pieces. Put them in' a stew-pan with the strained juice and grated rind of the lemons, and the water and simmer until quite soft. Then add the sugar and the ginger, wellbruised and tied in a muslin bag. Boil, stirring well, until it is a thick pulp; remove the ginger. Bottle while hot, and seal, Sweet Pickled Pears (American) This recipe may also be used for Peaches or Crab Apples. Make a syrup by boiling for 10 minutes 1 quart of vinegar, 2!b. brown sugar and an ounce of cinnamon (stick cinnamon is best, but ground will do). Blanch the fruit by scalding with boiling water, Remove the skin from peaches, but leave on those of pears or crab-apples. S‘ick each fruit with. 4. or 5 cloves and cook, a few at a

time, in the ‘syrup until soft. Transfer to sterilised jars, overflow with the boiling syrup, and seal airtight, Pear Jelly (dessert) Peel, halve, and core 1121b. of stews ing pears, Put them into a saucepan with 30z. sugar; 3% pint water, and some lemon rind and cloves, for flavouring. Cook until quite tender. Mix a pint packet of lemon jelly with half a pint of hot water, stirring till it is dissolved; strain the juice from the stewed pears, and add to the half pint of jelly, making it up to 1 pint. Arrange the pears in a glass dish, pour the jelly over, and leave to set. Serve in the dish, with cream. Parisian Pears Use bottled or tinned whole pears; or fresh ripe pears, stalk left on,» peeled, and cooked for just a few minutes, whole, in a syrup. Cut a small piece off each pear so that it will stand firm, stalk upright. Place the pears in pretty serving dish. Pour over a little syrup. Then pour in a good thick custard, sufficient ‘to cover lower half of pears, taking care not to pour any over the upper half, Surround the upper half with whipped cream (mock cream these days.) Just before serving sprinkle grated chocolate on the custard. Pear Chutney (1) Six pounds of hard pears, 2!b, onions, 142 to 2lb, sugar; 14 bottles vinegar; 4 teaspoon cayenne pepper, 114 tablespoons curry powder, 1% tablespoons mustard, 4 tablespoons flour. Cut up onions, sprinkle with salt and let stand overnight. Peel pears and cut up or mince. Drain brine from onions, and place them with pears, sugar and vinegar in pan and boil till tender. Thicken with remainder of ingredients mixed to a paste and boil another 10 minutes or thereabouts. Pear Chutney (2) To each 2lb. pears add 1lb. sugar, 1lb, sultanas, 1 pint vinegar, 1lb. onions, 1 packet raisins. Put fruit, etc., through coarse mincer, Cook for about 21% hours. When COLD, add loz. mustard, loz. ginger, 2oz. salt, cayenne to taste, a good sprinkle of mixed spice and cinnamon, Stir WELL and bottle.