Stoofperen

Firm Gieser Wildeman cooking pears simmered for hours in red wine with cinnamon, clove, sugar, and lemon until they turn deep ruby to the core and yield to a spoon, served warm in their glossy, spiced syrup

Origin: Netherlands

From the journey of Pear.

Stoofperen, literally 'stewing pears', are a fixture of the Dutch autumn and winter table, the warm, wine-dark companion to the hearty roasts and game of the colder months. The dish depends upon a particular kind of fruit: the stoofpeer or cooking pear, hard and astringent when raw and quite inedible from the hand, but transformed by long, slow stewing into something tender, deeply coloured, and fragrant. Chief amongst these is the Gieser Wildeman, a knobbly, russeted Dutch variety raised in the orchards of the Betuwe river country since the late nineteenth century and grown almost solely for the pot. The Dutch share with their neighbours a long medieval and early modern tradition of cooking firm pears in wine and spice, a method that turned a fruit too tannic to eat fresh into a keeping dish for the dark season, and the spices that scent it, cinnamon and clove, speak of the Dutch East India Company and the centuries in which Amsterdam was the spice warehouse of Europe. A length of cinnamon, a few cloves, sugar to coax out the sweetness, and lemon or red wine to deepen the colour are all that the pears require; cooked low and slow until the red works all the way to the core, they are served warm in their syrup alongside the Sunday roast, or cooled and spooned over yoghurt and pancakes. Frugal, festive, and unmistakably of the Low Countries, stoofperen turn a humble, hard fruit into one of the quiet glories of the Dutch winter kitchen.

Ingredients

Fruit

1 kg firm cooking pears (Gieser Wildeman or other stewing pear), peeled with stalks left on

Liquid

500 ml red wine
250 ml water

Sweetener

150 g caster sugar

Spices

1 stick cinnamon
4 whole cloves

Aromatics

3 strips lemon peel (pared with a vegetable peeler, no white pith)
1 tbsp lemon juice

Thickening

1 tbsp cornflour, slaked in a little cold water (optional, to thicken the syrup)

Method

Peel the pears, leaving the stalks intact for the sake of appearance, and trim a thin slice from the base of each so that they sit upright. Rub them with a little of the lemon juice to keep them from browning.
In a deep, heavy pot just wide enough to hold the pears snugly, combine the red wine, water, sugar, cinnamon stick, cloves, lemon peel, and remaining lemon juice. Warm gently and stir until the sugar has dissolved.
Stand the pears upright in the liquid, or lay them on their sides if they will not fit upright, so that they are as submerged as possible. Bring to a gentle simmer.
Cover the pot and cook over the lowest possible heat for 2.5 to 3 hours, turning the pears now and then, until they are meltingly tender and stained a deep, even ruby right through to the core.
Lift the cooked pears out carefully with a slotted spoon and set them aside. Remove the cinnamon, cloves, and lemon peel from the liquid.
If you would like a glossy syrup, raise the heat and reduce the cooking liquid, or stir in the slaked cornflour and simmer for a minute or two until lightly thickened. Return the pears to the syrup to coat them.

Notes

The Gieser Wildeman is the classic Dutch stewing pear, but any firm, hard cooking variety will do; eating pears such as Conference or Comice are too soft and will fall apart. Stoofperen are traditionally served warm alongside the Sunday roast or game, where their sweet-tart richness offsets the meat, but they are just as welcome as a dessert with whipped cream, vanilla ice cream, or yoghurt, or spooned over Dutch pancakes. They keep for several days in the refrigerator and the colour only deepens, so a large batch is never wasted.

The Gastrographer

Name: Stoofperen
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 3 h
Total time: 3 h 15 min
Yield: 6
Cuisine: Netherlands
Ingredients: 1 kg firm cooking pears (Gieser Wildeman or other stewing pear), peeled with stalks left on; 500 ml red wine; 250 ml water; 150 g caster sugar; 1 stick cinnamon; 4 whole cloves; 3 strips lemon peel (pared with a vegetable peeler, no white pith); 1 tbsp lemon juice; 1 tbsp cornflour, slaked in a little cold water (optional, to thicken the syrup)

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Journey Point Map Key

Ingredient originTrade or transit route

Became a culinary stapleColonial / trade control