The first time I heard of chai tea, I was a bit confused: as far as I knew the word chai meant tea. So what could this tea-tea stuff possibly be?
And why were people putting it in absolutely everything?
After a bit of research, I figured out that chai actually referred to masala chai. A drink that originates from India but is popular all over the globe these days. Traditionally this drink contains black tea, sugar, spices and a lot of milk. But some international versions are only vaguely like this.
In any case, chai has become incredibly popular in recent years. Which has resulted in a growing range of chai-flavored products. Cake, ice cream, beer, chewing gum… chai is absolutely everywhere. I feel that these things can go a bit far at times but it’s understandable. The spices that give chai it’s flavor are very versatile and can easily spice up other types of cooking.
Which is why I tried to make some chai spiced poached pears.
The idea to use spices to poach pears is certainly not new. Here in the Low Countries, pears were traditionally poached in red wine with cinnamon. However these days, most people seem to associate poached pears with their grandmother. They’re seen as just a little bit old fashioned. Which is unfortunate, because they’re delicious. Poached pears can be eaten warm, as an accompaniment with meat or cheese. Or cold, as a dessert with ice cream or chocolate sauce.
Because poached pears aren’t in fashion at the moment, finding the varieties that were traditionally used for poaching, has become more and more difficult. For that reason I used unripe eating pears. The downside of that, is that eating pears are softer and will cook to a pulp very easily. So keep a close eye on them when you use this recipe.
| Prep Time | 10 minutes |
| Cook Time | 30 minutes |
| Servings |
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- 4 unripe eating pears I used Doyenné du Comice
- 500 ml water
- 50 gr caster sugar
- 1 bag black tea I used Darjeeling
- 0.5 tsp grated ginger
- 1 tsp aniseed
- 1 tsp fennel seed
- 1 clove
- 2 cardamom pods
- 3 peppercorns
Ingredients
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- Bring the water to the boil in a pan just large enough to accommodate the pears. Put all the spices in a tea infuser.
- Once the water is boiling add the sugar, teabag and tea infuser. Let the water come back to the boil.
- Peel the pears and add them to the pan. Put on the lid and let the pears simmer on a low heat for 10-15 minutes or until they're soft. Turn them a bit every once in a while.
- Once the pears are done, take them out of the pan and let them cool. Cover them with clingfilm and store them in the fridge until you're ready to eat them. Save the liquid to use as a sauce.
- Leave the tea infuser in the cooking liquid, but remove the teabag. Then bring the liquid to a boil and let it simmer until reduced by half. Let the sauce cool as well.
- Serve the pears with the sauce and a bit of vanilla ice cream.
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