So, it’s been a mighty long while, but my expeariment from a few weeks back finally bore fruit.
I had decided at the point to use the Bosc and Abate pears in separate infusions. I selected them for both taste and fragrance, and merrily went about the normal infusion of adding the sliced fruit into spirit. At that point, I wasn’t quite sure which of them would turn out to be the winner. Fortunately, I had the answer quite shortly after.
That is to say, both turned out below the mark when put to the traditional infusion method.
The Abate pears were added directly to vodka and left to infuse. Turns out that the very light and delicate flavours did not infuse well at all. At the end of three weeks what I got was mildly pearish vodka, and even that was giving it more credit than it deserved.
The Bosc pears were added into champagne cognac in the hopes of a more robust flavour marrying well with the more robust flavours of the brandy. Turns out that it fared only a hair better than the vaguely pearish vodka. There was more flavour, but it was still hopelessly lost in the cognac.
All in all, a set of dismal failures.
Faced with the awful prospect of literally having all that hard work going down the drain, I did what any sane person would have done.
I fought back.
I went out and bought another set of exactly the same ingredients. Another basket load of pears. This time however, I didn’t stop at merely slicing them up. After all, why repeat the same experiment and get the same results? I instead employed that battle tested method of extracting flavour that we’re all familiar with today.
I, in fact, cooked the pears this time. More specifically, I boiled the pears in a tiny amount of water. In colloquial terms, it would qualify as the wading pool school of stewing. Very very slow cooking over a low fire to avoid destroying all the flavour compounds. I added the results to the still infusing liqueurs.
Two weeks later, I was still not satisfied. The pear tastes were definitely there now, albeit with a rounded, stewed flavour to them. Yet, they had not captured my imagination. Then it struck me. Why not blend some other fruits in and see what happened?
Some research ensued. Research to answer the question: What on earth goes well with stewed pears?
Of course, the title is dark and full of spoilers, so you already know what I did.
I chose Medjoul dates to go with the Abate. Honeyed, slightly smoky tastes to complement the mild stewed pears.
I was really pleased with the result. A mellow concoction with spicy notes. Sweet, but with more rounded smoky, but not peaty notes.
The cognac, I decided, required a different touch. I chose a bolder flavour to contrast with the all too mild pear tastes. Apricots are mild, but have a tartness that plays quite well with the Bosc pears’ spicy, earthy, yet sweet flavours.
This one was a bit strange. The pairing did not work exactly as I expected, and the tartness was much stronger than I had thought. On the other hand, once I got past the initial sour flavours, there was a definite layering of stewed pear that dovetailed with it. It took some getting used to, but I actually found this much more interesting. An acquired taste, perhaps, but one I’m glad to spend time acquiring.
Overall, I would say I’m quite happy with the expeariment. Things didn’t go exactly as planned, but it ended up just fine. That’s the whole fun of trying something different!
