Succulent, juicy and tender with a slightly granular flesh, pears are delicious when perfectly ripe. I love pears, and for me a poached pear is the ultimate pudding indulgence. Not only are pears delicious to eat, but they also boast a long culinary and literary history.
It’s believed that pears were first cultivated in Britain during the Roman occupation. Although slow to develop, pear trees are mentioned as boundary markers in the Doomsday Book. By the 13th century, many varieties of pear had been imported from France with the fruit being used for cooking rather than eating raw.
Many of these original varieties of pear gradually fell from popularity, but one that is currently being revived (and that has captured my tastebuds) is the Warden pear.
Seren uses saffron for colouring in her recipe (photo By Salonik Saffron)
In its day, Warden pears were famous for their use in pies. The variety is mentioned in Shakespeare’s “The Winter’s Tale” and the Michaelmas Fair at Bedford was renowned for baked Wardens. This hard type of pear, which has to be cooked before eating, is thought to have been first cultivated by monks at the Cistercian Abbey near the village of Old Warden around the 13th century.
From first reading the lines, ‘I must have saffron to colour the warden pies’ in The Winter’s Tale, I’ve been captivated.
As a food historian, I confess to being excited at the prospect of creating a food of literary and culinary importance that featured not only in the Bard’s work, but in the Barham’s Ingoldsby Legends where the hot baked Wardens are a tempting cry:
“The Canon sighed,
But rousing cried,
I answer to their call,
And a Warden’s pie’s a dainty
Dish to mortify withall
The baked pear vendor had a cry
Who knows what I’ve got
In my pot? Hot baked wardens
All hot! All hot! All hot! ‘’
The pears were also part of English troops’ provisions during the Battle of Agincourt in 1415.
Warden Pear Pie is a tasty treat with literary ties to the UK
With such a rich culinary history I couldn’t wait to get cooking with this deeply-coloured cooking pear, but getting ahold of them was not as straightforward as popping to the local greengrocers as the Warden pear began to decline in popularity in the 1800s. There are now believed to be just five trees producing the fruit left in the area of Warden, Bedfordshire.
Thankfully, staff and students at the local college are trying to propagate new trees through grafting. Paul Labous, a lecturer in horticulture at Shuttleworth College, kindly sent me some pears. I have to say, I was not only grateful to him but also excited when a firm pear arrived. I wasn’t disappointed with the cooking results either. The Warden pear has a deep colour, strong, rich flavour and great texture.
When it came to prepping the Wardens, I came to understand why they were known as the “iron pear”. It’s a tough pear to peel and hard work to cut it, however once cooked its lovely texture, taste and its ability to keep its shape during cooking make it well worth the effort.
There’s an historic recipe from The Good Huswifes Jewell, an English cookery book by writer Thomas Dawson, first published in 1585. This original recipe was chalk-a-block with curious spellings and is vastly different from recipes published today.
As it can be difficult for modern cooks to follow, I’ve created a modern version of this recipe for you.
Seren’s Modern Recipe for Warden Pie
I wanted to create a Warden Pie that was not just a straightforward redaction of the old recipes I had researched, but also reminiscent of the one the Clown had described in Shakespeare’s, ‘The Winter’s Tale’, with saffron for colouring. I decided it would be the pastry that would be coloured with saffron rather than the filling and I couldn’t resist adding a bit of wine to my recipe.
Ingredients
Pastry
90g unsalted butter, softened
65g caster sugar
3 free-range egg yolks
200g plain flour, plus extra for dusting
10 strands of saffron
Filling
Pears (ideally 4 medium-sized wardens, otherwise 4 firm pears)
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground ginger
500ml full-bodied red wine (a great excuse for drinking the other half of the bottle!)
100g granulated sugar
1⁄4 tsp ground cloves
Method
Pastry
Cream the butter, saffron and sugar together in a bowl until well mixed, then beat in the egg yolks, one at a time until fully combined. Now gradually stir in the flour until the mixture comes together as a ball of dough. Turn the pastry out onto a floured work surface and knead briefly until smooth and pliable. Once the pastry is ready wrap it in cling film and chill for at least 30 minutes.
Once the pastry is chilled, roll out and line a deep pie dish, reserving enough for a lid and decorations.
Filling
Peel and core the pears. Parboil them for 5 minutes. Allow to cool, before setting them into the pie shell. In a medium pan combine the wine, spices and sugar and place on a high heat, stir continuously until the sugar is dissolved and bring to a boil, then simmer for two minutes or until a thick syrup develops. Pour the syrup over the pears and cover the pie with a pastry lid.
Bake in a moderate oven, 80–190°C (350–375°F) for 45 minutes.
Tip: The saffron in the pastry gives a deep colour avoid egg washing the pastry until the last 10 minutes of cooking to avoid over colouring.
Serve with lashings of creamy custard or a good vanilla ice cream.
Whilst gorging on Warden Pie and pondering on the romanticism of Shakespearean Britain, you may want to reflect on the health-giving properties of pears for they are an excellent source of vitamin C and vitamin E, and high in fibre. They also have anti-oxidant and anti-carcinogen glutathione which helps to prevent high blood pressure and strokes.
As pears are so healthy I can’t help but think I should boost my vigour by eating another baked Warden, purely for medicinal purposes, of course!
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Author bio: Seren Charrington-Hollins
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