We had not previously made this recipe on the brazier when we served it at a private feast at our public demo in 2006, but the process was simple enough to give us no worries. This dish made a nice talking point for the introduction of humoral theory to the public.  Many versions of the recipe can be found in medieval texts but we took our original from Harliean MS 279/4016 as edited by Cindy Renfrow in Take a Thousand Eggs or More Vol.

Wardyns or Pears in Syrup 

• 5 large Bartlett pears. (about 4 lbs)

• 1 cup red wine

• 1 tsp ground cinnamon

• 1 cup sugar

• 1 tsp ground ginger

• pinch of Saffron

• 1 tbsp red wine vinegar

Combine wine and cinnamon. Set aside while preparing pears.

Wash pears and boil unpeeled in water till cooked (about 15 minutes)

Remove from water and let cool, peel and cut into halves or quarters depending on size of fruit. Slice out cores. (For this presentation we further sliced the pears for smaller portions.) Strain wine and spice mixture through fine sieve and discard spice powder still in sieve. Add sugar and bring to boil till all sugar is dissolved. Add in pears, remaining spices and vinegar. Bring back to a boil stirring pears down into syrup and cook another 5 minutes to blend flavors.

Wardyns in Syrup pictured here in the pot we cooked them in.

Junefaire Feast 2006

Bartlett pears are perhaps, of the pears commonly available in your supermarket, the nearest to a medieval pear. But feel free to use any pear you prefer.

Below - step one parboil your pears   

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Harliean MS 279/4016 (Take a Thousand Eggs or more)

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