Note: It is advisable to have more mason jars than listed when bottling. Pears vary in size and shape so it’s good to have more bottles than less. Ten one-litre mason jars is an estimate for this recipe. 12 lbs of pears, washed, cut and cored8 cups of water6 cups of sugar2 vanilla beans, seeds scraped and removed*10-12 cinnamon sticks20-25 cardamom pods**, seeds removed25-30 star anise ***25-30 whole cloves10-12 tsp of black peppercorns10 one litre mason jars with lids DIRECTIONSTake one large stockpot and line with a small kitchen towel. Fill with water and bring to a boil (This will take enough time for you to prepare your syrup and bottles). Take a second pot and fill with water, adding sugar. Add seeds from vanilla pods as well as pods to water. Bring to a gentle simmer until sugar is dissolved. Add aromatics to mason jars. For each bottle, add one cinnamon stick, a teaspoon or so of peppercorns, a coupe of star anise, a few cloves and a the seeds from two cardamom pods.Add pears to bottles, making sure to fill up the edge of the lip of the bottle (the place where the bottle begins to taper upwards). When the syrup is ready, pour into bottles, filling the bottles to the lip. Tightly screw on lids.Add jars to boiling water, two or three at a time. Boil for 8 to 10 minutes. Remove jars from water and place gently on a cooling rack. Continue until all bottles have been boiled.You will know your bottles have sealed when you hear them “Pop” and the seal on the lid is indented inwards and has a slight give. If the bottle has not sealed, boil again for 5 to 8 minutes. (Note: this will soften your pears). Keep bottles in a cool dry place, away from drafts.A note on pears: Pears have only one day when they are perfectly ripe. You want to bottle them a day or so before that. Too-ripe pears will turn to mush and unripened pears will stay hard. You can tell when a pear is perfect for bottling when it has a slight give when pressed gently, but is still firm.
INGREDIENT NOTES*Vanilla beans are the pods of an orchid. They are wrinkled, long and dark beans and it’s the seeds inside them which carries the vanilla flavour and scent. They can be found in the specialty food aisle of most grocery stores and gourmet food stores. Do not use vanilla extract for this recipe. It will muddle the water and add alchohol to the mix, which is undesirable. Simply omit if you can’t find the pods. **Cardamom pods are fragrant green pods that are used in Indian and middle eastern cooking. They are highly fragrant and carry notes of camphor, cinnamon and cloves. They are available in specialty grocery stores and Indian grocers. ***Star anise are named for their shape. They are small star shaped brown pods, which are fragrant, smelling of anise (licorice), imparting a subtle flavour to many dishes. It is a main ingredient in Chinese five spice and used extensively in sauces. They are available at specialty grocery stores and Chinese grocers.
This article appears in Nov 10-16, 2005.