Pears in Red Wine

This recepei from the Mediterranean The Beatiful Cookbook.

3 cups (24 fl oz/750 ml) dry red wine

1 cup (8 oz / 250mg ) sugar

2 cinnamon sticks

4 whole cloves

1 orange or lemon zest strips

1 teaspoon fennel seeds or aniseeds

a few peppercorns

6 large firm pears

• Peel and core the pears from the bottom and leave the steams intact


• In a sauce pan combine everything except the pears. Stirr the sugar to dissolve and bring to boil. Simmer for 5 minutes.


• Then put the pears into the liquid, cover the pot and simmer untill the pears are tender for about 30 minutes.


• Take the pears into a serving plate and refrigerate.


• Discard the seeds, zest and cinnamon sticks, cloves and peppers and thicken the liquid into a sauce (reducing it) until it is tick enough to coat a spoon, then remove from the heat and let cool.


• When the syrup is cold, pour it over the pears. Re-cover and chill for a few hours before serving.

I served this with Kaymak, Turkish Tick Cream .