Wardonys in Syryp
I found this recipe in Pleyn Delit, a collection of medieval recipes by Constance Hieatt, Brenda Hosington, and Sharon Butler. It was originally printed in the Forme of Curye.
Take wardonys, an caste on a potte, and boyle hem till they ben tender; than take hem up and pare hem, and kytte hem in to pecys; take ynow of powder of canel, a good quantyte, an caste it on red wyne, an draw it thorw a straynour; caste sugre therto, an put it in an erthen pot, an let it boyle: an thane caste the perys therto, an let boyle togederys, an whan they have boyle a whyle, take pouder of gyngere and caste therto, an a lytil venegre, an a lytil saffron: an loke that it be poynaunt an dowcet.
This recipe is very straightforward. Peel the pears and boil them in sweetened wine. When they are finished, season them with ginger, cinnamon, and saffron. Through my research I chose to can the pears using modern methods. While the final cooking method is modern, it yields the same result as the original—the pears are boiled in the wine syrup until they are finished cooking. The only true difference would be the vacuum seal created to allow for shelf storage without bacterial contamination.
My Recipe:
For my preferred preparation, the pears should be halved (or quartered) and placed raw into quart canning jars. Add 1/2 tsp ginger and cinnamon, along with 203 threads saffron to each jar. Heat wine and sugar until boiling. Fill jars with the heated wine. Process in boiling water for 20 minutes.
This project was first researched in 2016, and has become my preferred method for preserving pears each fall. This recipe can be found in the following projects: 2017 Tourney of Love Feast and 2017 Baronial Arts and Sciences Championship