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Shakespeare's Baked Warden Pears in Red Wine
 
recipe image
Prep Time: 5 Minutes
Cook Time: 30 Minutes
Ready In: 35 Minutes
Servings: 4
These delicious baked pears in wine have a long history and contain several very old ingredients, saffron and ginger. This is a traditional St Jude's Day recipe, St Jude (the patron saint of hopeless cases!) was a 1st century apostle, whose feast falls on 28th October. In old England, Bedford Boys would sell Warden Pears in the streets on this day. They would cry: Who knows what I have got? In a hot pot. Baked wardens'all hot. Who knows what I have got? The Cistercian Abbey of Warden in Bedfordshire gave its name to the Warden Pear, a variety of cooking pear mentioned by Shakespeare in some of his plays.
Ingredients:
4 fresh pears
250 ml red wine
50 g brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ginger
1 pinch saffron
Directions:
1. Pre-heat oven to 180C or 350°F
2. Peel the pears, but leave them whole, then put them in an oven-proof dish.
3. Mix together the remaining ingredients and pour them over the fruit.
4. Place in a moderate oven and bake until tender, about 20 to 30 minutes.
5. Serve them with the wine juices and hot custard or cream.
By RecipeOfHealth.com