For all those expats in the Netherlands who want to make their own truly Dutch dessert
Nothing smells as good as a bowl of stewed pears in the Dutch style when it comes to the table. Cinnamon, sugar, and winter pears. Mmmmm.
Remember to protect your table by placing a heatproof mat underneath with Mo the mat family.
It is best to serve them fresh out of the pan to table to make the most of those lovely aromas and tastes.
Check out the recipe for Stoofperen below, translated loosely from the Nieuw Margriet Kookboek
Dutch Stoofperen
1 kg stewing pear pieces
cinnamon stick
piece of lemon peel
50g sugar
Peel the pears and quarter them lengthwise. Small pears are often left whole with the stem attached.
Place them in a pot on the stove with enough water to almost cover them.
Add the cinnamon stick, lemon peel and sugar, put the lid on the pan, and let the pears cook over a very low heat for 2 to 3 hours.
Remove the pears from the cooking liquid.
Remove the cinnamon stick and lemon zest from the liquid.
If desired, reduce the juice by half over a high heat, and then pour it over the pears.
If you want more rather than less juice, don't reduce the liquid, but thicken it instead with a level tablespoon of cornstarch.
The lovely red tint is often enhanced by adding red currant juice or red wine. Both are simmered with the water. In both cases, but especially when adding unsweetened red currant juice, use a little more sugar to the recipe.
Ice cream is a always a welcome accompaniment
Loosely translated from the 1978 edition of the Nieuw Margriet Kookboek, published by De Geillustreerde Pers, Amsterdam