Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Food & Drink

Learn How to Poach Pears Like the Pros Do

Mark Stock
By
Poached Pears in Red Wine with Dark Chocolate
GMVozd/Getty Images

Poached pears have always felt a little distant, like something out of a Williams Sonoma catalog that one never really gets around to making. Well, humbug to all that. The classic dessert dish can be prepared with relative ease and is a great option around the holidays. Better still, it accompanies a number of great wines, beers, and spirits.

Greg Higgins runs his eponymous restaurant in downtown Portland, having done so since the mid-90s. He’s a revered culinary figure, one of the pioneering firsts to make farm-to-table a real and practically expected thing in American dining. He’s included a fairly straightforward poached pear recipe, below, and has a few tips on the topic.

Related Videos

“Choose pears that are slightly firm or underripe,” the chef says. “That makes them easier to prep and poach.” Higgins also advises the slow and low method of cooking the fruit. “Never let the poaching liquid come to a boil,” he warns.

Related

There’s also a simple trick that allows for added presentation points. “Cut a bit of the bottom to create a flat spot to stand the pears up after poaching,” he says.

Pinot Noir-Poached Pear and Blue Cheese Salad

This Higgins recipe utilizes the flavorful poached pear in salad form. Per the Higgins way, it’s a very locally-sourced endeavor. If you live away from the Pacific Northwest, you can still have good quality pears and cheese, along with some hazelnuts. As the chef suggests, enjoy it with a nice Pinot Noir, or a darker Belgian ale if beer is your thing.

Ingredients:

  • 6 Oregon pears, cored and peeled
  • 1/4 cup Oregon blue cheese, crumbled
  • 1 cup Oregon hazelnuts, toasted and chopped
  • 1 bunch frisée
  • 1/4 cup hazelnut oil

Poaching Liquid Ingredients:

  • 1 quart Pinot Noir
  • 2 whole cinnamon sticks
  • 15 whole cloves
  • 2 tablespoons whole allspice

Method:

  1. Bring poaching liquid to a low simmer in a non-reactive saucepan.
  2. Peel and core pear from the bottom leaving top intact and place in liquid (approximately 180 F). Do not boil.
  3. Toast hazelnuts until browned in the center, then chop.
  4. Remove pear from poaching liquid when softened yet still firm and hold in a warm place.
  5. Place 2 cups of the poaching liquid in a pan and reduce to the consistency of syrup.
  6. Stand pear on a bed of frisee, crumble on blue cheese and sprinkle with toasted hazelnuts. Drizzle salad with reduction, hazelnut oil, and grind of fresh pepper.

Citrus-Poached Pears

Citrus Poached Pears by Jamie Oliver.

For an approach that really just puts the fruit on a pedestal, we like the poached pear recipe from Jamie Oliver. Enjoy it with a dry or off-dry Riesling, a glass of Alsace, or even a nice and yeasty farmhouse ale. If you’re looking to pair it with a spirit, try a finger of your favorite rye whiskey or a short pour of brandy.

Ingredients:

  • 2 pears
  • 1 lemon
  • 1 orange
  • 1 stick of cinnamon (or cloves, allspice, star anise, or some combination)
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • double cream

Method:

  1. Place the peeled zest and juice from the lemon and orange into a saucepan, just large enough to hold the pears.
  2. Add the cinnamon and sugar, pour in 2 cups of water and bring to a boil. Cook until the sugar dissolves.
  3. Peel the pears, then once the sugar has dissolved, reduce the heat and lower the pears into the syrup.
  4. Simmer gently for 10 to 12 minutes, or until tender, then remove from the heat and leave to cool.
  5. Serve the pears with double cream and 4 tablespoons of poaching liquid per person.

Chai-Poached Pears with Cinnamon Whipped Cream

chai poached pear with whipped cream sitting on a plate.

Tea is a great option for poaching and this recipe from Oh My Veggies knows as much. Obviously, chai on chai is a nice combo so try a good cup of tea with this one. If you feel like something stiffer, try a late-harvest white wine like Gewurztraminer or a nice bourbon or spiced rum.

Ingredients:

  • 2 chai tea bags
  • 2 Bosc pears
  • 1.5 cups boiling water
  • 1/2 cup heavy cream
  • 1/3 cup honey
  • 1 teaspoon sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Method:

  1. Place the chai tea bags into a 3-quart pan and pour the boiling water over the top. Let the bags steep for 8 to 10 minutes. Remove the tea bags, squeezing them to release as much liquid as possible. Stir in the honey. Add the pears and add enough water to barely cover, then bring to a simmer. Cook for 20 to 25 minutes, or until the pears are tender. Remove the pears with a slotted spoon and set aside.
  2. Bring the poaching liquid to a rolling boil. Let boil until syrupy, about 20 to 30 minutes.
  3. To make the whipped cream, pour the heavy cream in a mixing bowl and add the sugar and cinnamon. Beat with a whisk or hand mixer until soft peaks form.
  4. Place pears in a shallow dish or bowl. Spoon some of the warm poaching syrup over the pears and add a spoonful of cinnamon whipped cream on the side. Serve immediately.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
Expert pitmasters reveal their top tips to make smoked brisket
Expert pitmasters shows us how to make smoked brisket
hill country barbecue market brisket 3

No one can argue that smoked meat is one of the great joys in life. If someone does, immediately unfriend them — they are not worthy of your time. Kidding, but only kind of. And while we love all pieces of smoked meat, from sausages to ribs and beyond, there’s something truly special about biting into a perfect piece of brisket, with its pink smoke ring, flavorful bark, and juicy meat that is just the right texture. While we’ve cooked many briskets in the oven in our day, smoked brisket is a much bigger undertaking, especially if you’re new to the backyard barbecue game.

New York City barbecue has been coming into its own during the past decade, which can be seen in the city’s many meaty festivals that take place every year. (Don't believe us? Check out this episode of Beards, Booze, and Bacon with Arrogant Swine's Tyson Ho.) One such event, Brisket King NYC, which has been going on for over ten years and draws pitmasters from near and far to compete for the best brisket in the city. This year, top pitmasters will be throwing down for the title on April 26, 2023, in what is sure to be a meat-tastic day.

Read more
Bubbly? Full-bodied and red? Zesty and white? Your favorite wine types, explained
All the primary types of wine (and everything you need to know about them)
Glasses of different kinds of wine

Trying to understand everything about wine all at once is an impossible endeavor. Wine is a beautifully complicated, ever-changing quiddity, and even the most decorated and prestigious wine experts in the world often find themselves confounded by its constant little surprises.
That isn't to say that, if you care to, you shouldn't become educated on the subject of wine. It's a hobby and a passion that's tremendously fun to pursue, and there's much to learn on the matter.
If you find yourself in the beginning stages of your wine education, just as in everything, you'll want to start with the basics. It's possible that up until now, you haven't put much thought into the several different kinds of wine there are, except for, say, red and white. But while there are obviously exceptions within every hard and fast rule, for the most part, wine can be broken down into roughly nine categories. Here we'll take a minute to break those categories down, explain what they mean, which wines fall into them, and, our favorite - how to drink those wines.

Sparkling wine

Read more
This NYC restaurant’s $518, 19-course tasting menu of Chinese cuisine is amazing
Chef Guo in New York is a once-in-a-lifetime experience and a feast for the senses and the palate
Chef Guo food.

Butterfly Falls in Love with the Flower.

Step inside the restaurant Chef Guo, and the first thing you'll be greeted with is a majestic model of a ginko tree, the national tree of China, complete with brightly colored golden leaves. The tree cascades over the dining room, a space filled with Chinese calligraphy on the walls and regal Indonesian Zi Tan rosewood chairs. Soft and pleasant Chinese instrumental music plays in the background, an oasis in an otherwise hectic Midtown Manhattan.

Read more