This is a very old recipe of my grandmothers and it’s great for when you’ve got pears that refuse to ripen.

Spiced Pears

• 1kg of pears
• 500g sugar
• 300ml wine vinegar
• 2 tsps whole cloves
• 2 tsps mixed spice powder
• 1.5cm of root ginger
• 1 tsp of cinnamon powder

Peel and core pears and cut into quarters. Dissolve the sugar in the vinegar and add the spices. Simmer the fruit in the vinegar syrup until tender. Drain and pack into clean, warm jars. Boil the vinegar syrup gently until it thickens. Fill each jar with enough syrup to cover the pears. Seal the jar and store for winter. Spiced pears can be eaten with ice cream or used to make an amazing sauce to accompany hot gammon which I will prize off my mum and share with you.