Advertisement
Easy
By Anne Willan
Published 1977
This is one of the first mentions of commercial gelatin; before Mrs Beeton’s time, cooks had to rely on the natural gelatin they could boil from bones, or on isinglass (prepared from fish) – a substance similar to gelatin but less easy to use.
Peel and cut the pears into quarters; put them into a jar with ¾ pint of water, cloves, cinnamon, and sufficient sugar to sweeten the whole nicely; cover down the top of the jar, and bake the pears in a gentle oven until perfectly tender, but do not allow them to break. When done, lay the pears in a plain mould, which should be well wetted, and boil ½ pint of the liquor the pears