There is nothing like the lift spring brings to the spirit! Throughout the ages, across cultures and faiths spring has been celebrated with rituals and culinary traditions. Our ancient ancestors celebrated two seasons: dark and light. Spring, of course, leads us into lightness. At Stonehenge or at the ancient Mayan pyramids, the vernal equinox was and is still honoured. Whether you are celebrating Easter, Passover, spring Ramadan or nature’s journey into light, food is central to our rituals.
Eggs are very much part of meals that celebrate spring. They symbolize birth and renewal. Think about the Easter eggs, Ukrainian exquisitely painted eggs (Pysanky), Bosnia’s Festival of scrambled eggs, sweet Italian Easter bread with a coloured egg baked into it, a hard-boiled egg at the seder table, herbed eggs at the Nowruz meal in Iran or red dyed eggs at the Greek Easter table. There are countless examples of the symbolic importance of eggs in celebrating spring.
While eggs represent new life, fruit represents plenty, sweetness, health, and prosperity and is often served at spring celebratory meals. Chaat masala with fruit at the Iftar meal, dried fruits in Hot Cross Buns or other Easter breads, Haroset at the seder meal, or citrus fruit in southern European countries. In Canada, the sweetness of fruit is often provided by maple syrup our quintessential spring treat.
I’ve been planning my Easter meal and thinking about what I can use from my pantry and freezer. I’m slow braising lamb shanks (thanks to the Black Family Market), creamed Swiss chard with shallots from my garden which I froze, mashed potatoes also from my garden and stored in the garage. For dessert, I’m going simple with a maple syrup-based sauté of pears I canned in Fall. This recipe is a riff on one created by Canadian Trish Magwood.
In whatever way you bring in spring, enjoy our entry into light and celebrate rebirth, renewal and the bounty of nature and our pantries.
Maple Syrup Caramelized Pears on Ice Cream
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Loading...Ingredients
- Yield 4 so double if you like
- 2 TBSP butter
- 2 TBSP maple syrup
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 2 pieces star anise
- 2 cardamon pods
- 4 inch stick cinnamon
- ¼ tsp nutmeg
- 2 TBSP brown sugar
- 4 tsp fresh lemon juice
- 500 ml jar of preserved pears
- High quality vanilla ice cream (Chapmans)
Instructions
Drain the pears. If they are in half, cut lengthwise. Try to create equally sized very thick slices (imagine a small pear cut into quarters).
In a medium sized sauté pan add butter, maple syrup, vanilla, spices and let them simmer on low heat for about 5 minutes. Add brown sugar and lemon juice and mix in. Add the pears and simmer until they are warm and the sauce is syrupy.
Server warm pears over ice cream. The spices infuse a deep rich flavour to the syrup that coats the pears and spills over onto the ice cream. Yum!
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