Pears poached in red wine, the link to the Spice Islands and Miami 2022

Natacha Sanz Caballero Desserts and Sweets, Events & Travel Christmas dessert, festive dessert, First voyage around the world, fruit, I Was the First, Juan Sebastián Elcano, peras al vino, postre, Spanish cuisine, spices, yo fui el primero

If there was a dessert that my mom made very often when I was a young girl, that was peras al vino, pears poached in red wine. And I know what you’re thinking, and yes, drinking age is lower in Spain that it is in the US, but no, these pears have essentially no alcohol because all of it is evaporated in the making. 

Phew! Now that we have cleared that up, let’s move forward.

Pears poached in red wine are one of the easiest desserts to make, and now that I mention it, maybe that’s why my mom made it so often —not that she was a lazy cook, far from it! I think maybe one of the reasons she made it often was that once you have all the ingredients ready for the stove and the pears are poaching, you can almost forget about them and go about the main dish for your meal, or whatever other task you want to tackle.

My mom, for the most part, made the straightforward and easiest recipe, the one that only requires three ingredients: pears, wine and sugar —and maybe the peel of an orange, as a fourth ingredient. I decided to make the more festive version of it, and for a good reason: not only because we are in the most festive time of year, but also because the spices used to flavor the wine are some of the ones that Elcano brought in the nao Victoria when he came back from the Spice Islands, the Moluccas, on the first voyage around the world, namely cloves, star anise and cinnamon. With the publication of I Was the First, the English translation of the original Yo fui el primero, pears poached in red wine, the festive version, seemed like a very appropriate recipe.

Her Magesty Queen Sofía of Spain and the lecturers

The training ship Juan Sebastián Elcano, of the Spanish Army, docked in Biscayne Bay and illuminated in the Miami night sky with the colors of the Spanish flag

Miami, May 2022

Also appropriate was to share some of the photos and story of one of the events I attended this year, as part of the commemoration of the 500th anniversary of the first voyage around the world.

Last May I was invited to be part of the celebrations that took place in Miami over a period of three days, presided by her Majesty Queen Sofia of Spain and with the presence also of dignitaries and personalities both from Spain and from the United States. 

One of the events was the conference The First Globalization, which took place at the Pérez Art Museum, and where professors Carla Rahn Phillips, from the University of Minnesota, Kris Lane, from Tulane University, Ida Altman, from the University of Florida and Richard Kagan, from John Hopkins University lectured, from different perspectives, the impact of the first voyage around the world started by Magellan and completed by Elcano, which constituted the beginning of the global economy. They also examined in detail the Spanish migrations to the Americas and the wide and deep Hispanic heritage on this continent.

Anchored at the Maurice A. Ferré Park on the Bay of Miami, some steps away from the Pérez Museum, was the training ship Juan Sebastián Elcano, of the Spanish Army, which had arrived  the previous day to take center stage in the celebrations. After the solemn hoisting of the flag of Spain, the national anthem of Spain was played by the ship’s band, which was followed by a gala reception on board.

More celebrations continued the next day on board the ship. Presided by Don Manuel García Ruiz, the ship’s captain and commander, and through the invitation of rear admiral Santiago Barber López, member of the Committee for the Commemoration of the 500th Anniversary of the First Voyage Around the World, I swore allegiance to the flag of Spain. The ceremony started out with a mass on the deck and was followed by the act of the swearing of the flag and a reception. The officers of the Naval Military Academy at Marin (Pontevedra), who are doing their instruction on board the ship, imbued the event with the solemnity and emotions it deserved.

The officers in training of the Naval Military Academy at Marin (Pontevedra)

With Rear Admiral Barber López and ship captain Carlos Maté

With María Saavedra, of cátedra CEU Elcano

Other familiar faces, like Nicolás Vallejo-Nájera

My cousin Carlos was my companion on such a special day

The reception gave all the people present the opportunity to mingle and chat about the impact of the first voyage around the world, a trip that discovered the inter-connection between the oceans and the real size of the earth, and that started the first globalization, as well as reclaim and vindicate the Spanish heritage in America. The history of Spain would not be complete without America, but the history of America could not be understood without Spain either. We concluded that we are ambassadors of our country of birth in our country of adoption. 

Other events that took place as part of the commemoration included a ceremony in nearby Plaza de la Marina Española, Spanish Navy Plaza, in honor of the Spanish heritage in America.  

It has been a few months since those events in May, but to tell you the truth, this whole year has been one of celebrations of the amazing feat of the 18 survivors of the first voyage around the world, which culminated in September, with nationwide celebrations in Spain. 

The festive pears poached in red wine recipe I am sharing today reminds me of those heroes that risked everything, their own lives, to bring the treasured spices from the far east islands and start a worldwide commerce linked by the oceans, into what was the start of the global economy. Their courage, endurance and bravery should be an example for all of us to approach the difficulties of our world today.

For more on this story, check here and here. And you want to learn the whole story, check out the books.

Links to the books:

I Was the First, PAPERBACK

Yo fui el primero, Special Edition V Centenario, PAPERBACK

Yo fui el primero, PAPERBACK

Yo fui el primero, eBOOK

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PEARS POACHED IN RED WINE

Peras al vino

Author: Natacha Sanz Caballero, Mama Ía blog

Ingredients

• 5 or 6 pears I like to use Bosc pears for their elongated look
• 3 cinnamon sticks
• 3 or 4 strips orange peel avoid the white part
• 2 star anise
• 6 or 7 cloves
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 bottle red wine

Instructions

• Place the cinnamon sticks, orange peels, anise, cloves and sugar in a saucepan large enough to hold the pears. Add the wine and stir to dissolve the sugar.
• Peel the pears and slice off the bottom so the pears can stand up.
• Lower the pears into the liquid, making sure they get covered by it (if needed, add a bit of water to make sure the pears get completely covered). Bring to a boil.
• Lower the heat, cover and simmer for about 30 minutes. The pears will get soft. Remove the saucepan from the stove and let cool.
• Gently remove the pears from the liquid and place them in a bowl large enough to hold them.
• Return the saucepan to the stove and increase the heat to medium. Bring the wine mixture to a gentle boil for about 1 hour, or until the liquid gets reduced to a syrupy consistency. Pour some of the syrup over the pears, cover and refrigerate.
• To serve, they look really beautiful standing up on a dish or cake stand with an edge to hold the syrup.

Notes

The remaining syrup (you'll have some quantity left over) can be used for other dishes: you can drizzle it over fresh fruit or ice cream; you can add equal parts of sparkling water for a festive spritz; you can add some more wine and heat it up to make hot wine. The syrup is a fantastic by-product of pears poached in red wine!