Category:
Pickles and Preserves
Pear and Ginger Preserve
Ingredients:
ginger root
pears
sugar
Scrape the skin gently and pare away any scars from a piece of ginger
root the size of two fingers. Begin by cutting crossways into slices thin
enough to be translucent and then mincing until very fine.
Peel, by dipping into boiling water, a six quart basket of fine pears,
whichever sort you can find the best deal on. Anjou, Bartlett, Sugar,
or Bosc, I don't think you can go wrong here. Core them and chop into
rough dice about a centimeter on a side. Catch as much of the juice as
you can.
Measure out by feel a quantity of white sugar about three quarters
the weight of the trimmed pears. Put the minced ginger and a cup out of
the total quantity of sugar into a stock pot, more than large enough to
hold everything. Pour in all the juice from the bottom of the pears you
have cut. Bring gently to a boil, simmer, stirring carefully, for one
minute, then turn off the fire. Add all the pears and the rest of the
sugar. Stir. Let them interact for twenty minutes or so.
Bring gently to a boil, stirring continually. You will have to stir the
entire time that the preserve is cooking or the jam will burn. You may
wish to have a friend or collaborator on hand to take a turn. Reduce by
a third to a half. Test the consistency from time to time by putting a
spoonful on ice to congeal. When you are happy with the way it sets, let
it cool just enough to lessen the danger of burns and thermal shock to
the jars, and ladle into glass vessels, cover them tightly, cool, and
freeze.
This preserve hasn't enough sugar in it to withstand the onslaught of
mould, so it only has a refrigerated shelf life of a week or two. Frozen,
it will last a year at least.
Notes:
Pears, quinces and apples are the fruits with the most pectin, a soluble protein which helps to set a jam or preserve. You can purchase the stuff. We have had poor results with premixes and liquid pectin products, but your results may vary.
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