Poached Pears in Spiced Rum Sauce

From Vegetarian Feasts by Richard Cawley

Ingredients

¾ c. plus 2 Tbsp. sugar
¼ tsp. salt
cinnamon stick, about 4 inches long
4 whole cloves
½ -inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled & sliced
6-8 pears, peeled with stems and twigs left on
7 Tbsp. rum

Directions

1. In a large saucepan with a lid, put sugar, salt, spices and 2 ½ quarts water. Bring to a boil. Cover, turn down the heat and simmer for 15 minutes.
2. Put the pears in a saucepan, standing them upright in the syrup. Cook, covered, over low to medium heat, until the pears are quite tender. The exact cooking time varies, but will probably last 45 minutes or more. Tops of pears can be above the syrup, as they will cook in steam.
   
3. Remove the pears from the syrup and stand on a plate. Strain the syrup into a clean pan large enough to hold the pears snugly in one layer. Discard spices and stir rum into the syrup.
   
4. Return pears to the syrup and leave until quite cool. Transfer pears to plate. Place saucepan of syrup over high heat and boil rapidly to reduce the syrup to 1 ¼ c. Let cool. Serve over pears.

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