The first time I ever tasted this dish, Suzi had brought it to a family gathering at my parents' house in Statesboro. I ate so much of it that Mother was finally embarassed enough to take me aside & tell me, "The pears are a condiment, Caroline, not a side dish." In the photo below, the pears are mostly in quarters. I'm experimenting now with rather thinly sliced pears instead. For a printer-friendly version of this recipe, click on this link: SuzisGingeredPears.PDF --- Chb

Ginger Pear Pickles ingredients & finished product

SUZI'S GINGER PEAR PICKLES

This is an expensive dish to make, but you can make it a little less pricy if you purchase some of the more costly ingredients from BulkFoods.com . If you don't want to buy online, it'll cost a little more to make, but I think you'll still find it's well worth the effort!

This recipe makes about 3 quarts of product. The ingredients alone probably cost about $3.00 per quart when purchased from your local grocer.

    1. Quarter, peel & core about 15 firm medium pears into a large bowl (I used a Tupperware that I could cover to protect from fruit flies. You might want to stick the bowl into the fridge while you prepare the syrup)
    2. Measure the following ingredients into a large cooking pot:
      • 5 cups sugar
      • 3 cups white vinegar
      • 1 cup apple juice
      • 1 cup water
      • 1 cup well-washed, peeled & thinly-sliced fresh ginger (reserve peel)
    3. Add a quart of water & 2 tbsp white vinegar to the pears & set them aside to soak for about 10 minutes.
    4. Begin to heat the syrup mixture while the pears soak & you prepare the spice bag.
    5. Place a square of cheese cloth (3 layers) in a smaller bowl, then put the following ingredients into the center of the cheesecloth square:
      • The reserved ginger peel
      • 2 limes, thinly sliced
      • 6 cinnamon sticks
      • 1/4 cup whole cloves
    6. Tie the spice bag shut, then
    7. Turn the burner to high & bring the syrup to a boil
    8. Add the spice bag to the boiling syrup, cover the pot, & continue to boil the mixture for about 8-10 minutes.
    9. Drain the pears well & add them to the boiling mixture; continue to boil until the pears are translucent (about 10 minutes).
    10. Remove pears & syrup to a bowl to cool a little (if you're preparing to serve them all in the next few weeks) * , then cover & cool thoroughy before serving.
    11. * You can store this dish in the fridge for up to 3 weeks, or you might want to can some of them for use over the next year or so. If you're going to can part of the batch, don't cool them but remove them straight to prepared canning jars. I recommend canning in wide-mouth pint jars, processing for 20 minutes in hot-water bath.
Canned Ginger Pear Pickles
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Last Modified September 29, 2005