Poires Belle Hèléne

I recently spent two weeks travelling through California, experiencing the hot desert of Barstow, the majestic Redwoods of Northern California and the nearby beaches that were serene but also somehow a little unsettling. I hadn’t posted anything on my blog for three weeks and I couldn’t decide what to do next. I wanted to create some food that reflected my recent California experience – somehow another spicy Mexican dish didn’t seem quite right just yet – and decided that the dessert Poires Belle Hèléne was just right for me now. No, these poached pears covered in chocolate sauce cannot match the majesty of the California Redwoods, but  somehow the inner serenity and simplicity of this dish connected with my recent travels.

 Poires (Pears) Belle Hèléne was developed in 1864 by the famous chef, Auguste Escoffier, as a tribute to the opera, La Belle Hèléne by Offenbach. It is a simple dish – pears poached in a sugar syrup, and topped with chocolate sauce and a side of vanilla ice cream. I used three types of pears, Red Anjou, Bartlett and Bosc pears. The Bosc pears (brownish color) hold their shape the best when cooking; the Bartlett pears are the juiciest and tend to soften more when cooked. But to be honest, after I poached them altogether in the pot, I couldn’t tell the difference when I took them out to be coated in chocolate!

 Some recipes only call for water, sugar, lemon juice and vanilla flavouring for the pear poaching liquid, but I added a cinnamon stick which rounded out the flavour nicely. You could also be creative and add a dash of Cointreau or Grand Marnier to the poaching liquid.

 This is a very simple recipe but your dinner guests should be very happy if you ended your meal with this delicious dessert.