Pears and Dates
with
Plum Sauce
Ingredients
Red Plums
Red Wine
Rice Flour
Pear
Dates
Sugar
Ginger Powder
Clove Powder
Mace Powder
Cinnamon Powder
Nutmeg Powder
The original recipe below (Potage Dyvers) is circa 1430 (1) and it is from Harleian MS. 279 as reprinted in Take a Thousand Eggs or More (2).
Ciij. Bolas. Take Fayre Bolasse, wasshe hem clene, & in Wyne boyle hem that they be but skaldyd bywese, & boyle hem alle to pomppe, & draw hem thorw a straynoure, & a-lye hem with flowre of Rys, & make it chargeaunt, & do it to the byre, & boyl it; take it of, & do ther-to whyte Sugre, gingere, Clowys, Maces, Canelle, & stre it wyl to-gederys: thanne take gode perys, & sethe hem wel with the Stalke, & sette hem to kele, & pare hem clene, and pyke owt the corys; than take datis, & wasshe hem clene, & pyke owt the Stonys, & fylle hem fulle of blaunche poudere: than take the Stalke of the Perys, take the Bolas, & ley .iij. lechys in a dysshe, & sette thin perys thery-yn.
The translation for the above recipe is also provided by Take A Thousand Eggs or More(3) and it is:
104. Bullaces. Take fair Bullaces, wash them clean, & in Wine boil them that they are but hardly covered, & boil them all to pulp, & draw them through a strainer, & mix them with flour of Rice, & make it thick, & put it to the fire, & boil it; take it off, & put thereto white Sugar, ginger, Cloves, Maces, Cinnamon, & stir it well together: then take good pears, & seethe them will with the Stalks, & set them to cool, & pare them clean, and pick out the cores; then take dates, & watch them clean, & pick out the Stones, & fill them full of white powder: then take the stalk off the Pears, take the Bullaces, & lay 3 slices in a dish, & set thine pears therein.
This translated recipe was then redacted by Cindy Renfrow (the author of Take A Thousand Eggs or More) to create the following recipe(4):
Bolas (Plums)
1/2 pound red plums, washed and pitted
1 cup red wine or burgundy
1 teaspoon rice flour
1 ripe firm pear, halved and cored
3 dates, pitted and halved lengthwise
2 Tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon ginger powder
1/8 teaspoon clove powder
1/2 teaspoon mace powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon powder
Put the plums and 1/2 cup red wine in a covered enamelled pot. Bring to a boil and cook until the plums turn to pulp. Remove from heat. Strain the plums and wine through a strainer into the pot. Add rice flour and stir. Re-heat and stir until the mixture thickens slightly. Add spices and stir until the mixture is as thick as liquid jelly. Remove from heat. Pour the mixture into a shallow serving dish and set aside.
Put the pear halves and 1/2 cup red wine in an enamelled pot. Cover and bring to a boil. Cook until the pear halves are fork-tender. Remove from heat. Drain. Slice each pear half into 3 slices. Arrange the slices on the serving dish with the plum sauce.
Take the 6 date halves and sprinkle them lightly with White Powder. Arrange the dates on the serving dish with the plum sauce and pears. Serve cold.
Makes 3/4 cup plum sauce. Serves 2.
White Powder: (a guess)
2 teaspoons cinnamon powder
1 teaspoon ginger powder
1 teaspoon nutmeg powder
2 teaspoons sugar
Combine all in a small bowl. Store in an airtight container.
When I tried this recipe, I used a red Bartlett pear instead of a green Bartlett pear. I found it gives the dish more taste and color.
Bartlett pears are descended from a variety of period French pears called Bon Chretien(5). And if the writings of the head of the French royal gardens in 1691 are to be believed, Bon Chretien is the same pear as that which the Romans called Crustumium or Volemum(6). The Bon Chretien variety of pear was taken to the United States in 1797 and it was planted in an estate. In 1817, Enoch Bartlett took over the estate and not knowing the true name of the pears planted there, he called them Bartletts(7).
It took about 15 minutes for the plums to turn to pulp and from 10 to 15 minutes for the plum sauce to thicken after the spices were added. It also took the pear halves about 10 minutes to soften in the boiling wine. Since the dish is to be served cold, it�s better to have the pear halves a little softer than fork-tender as they will toughen when they are chilled.
When I first made this recipe, I found the plum sauce to be a little too strong with spices. So much so that I thought it overwhelmed the pears and dates. I tried different variations on the sauce, changing the amounts of the spices. The best flavor came from the version that used only half the recommended amount of mace (1/4 teaspoon instead of 1/2). Though the dish is still spicy, it no longer seemed to overwhelm those of us with modern palates. I have provided a sample of the plum sauce from the original recipe to compare against the reduced-mace one.
Another thing to keep in mind when making this dish is that you shouldn't make an effort to push the plum pulp through the strainer. I did that for one version of the dish and the consistency of the sauce ended up wrong. It was too thick. Instead, the pulp of one to one-and-a-half plums should remain in the strainer when you are done.
FOOTNOTES
1. Renfrow, Cindy. Take A Thousand Eggs or More. United States of America. Second Edition, 1998. p. iii.
2. Renfrow. p. 202.
3. Renfrow. p. 202.
4. Renfrow. p. 203.
5. Grafton, Gillian. Pears and Perry in the UK. Published at http://web.bham.ac.uk/GraftonG/cider/history2.htm. p. 2.
6. Grafton. p. 2.
7. Grafton. p. 2.
REFERENCES
Take A Thousand Eggs or More, by Cindy Renfrow, United States of America, Second Edition, 1998.
Pears and Perry in the UK, by Gillian Grafton. Published at http://web.bham.ac.uk/GraftonG/cider/history2.htm