Ingredients
1 lb figs
1 2/3 cup unsweetened pear juice
10 each ripe pears
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp allspice
1/2 lb filo dough
1/2 cup melted butter
1 cup toasted wholewheat bread - crumbs
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup chopped hazelnuts
Directions
Cover the figs with pear juice & bring to a boil, let simmer for 25
minutes. Puree in a blender.
Peel & core the pears & chop into bite-sized pieces. Combine fig
paste, pears & cinnamon & allspice.
Preheat oven to 375F. Butter a 9"x14" baking pan. Layer 10 filo
sheets, 2 at a time, brushing butter on every second sheet &
spinkling it with breadcrumbs. Spread pear filling evenly over last
sheet. Cover with another 10 sheets of filo, layered as before with
butter & breadcrumbs.
Score the top sheet into pieces approx. 3" square. Bake for 35 to 40
minutes & then allow to cool for 15 minutes. Heat the honey, stirring
gently till warm. Drizzle over strudel & top with nuts. Cut with a
sharp knife.
"Sundays at Moosewood Restaurant Cookbook"
Servings: 12 servings
Pear & Fig Strudel Recipe brought to you by Recipe Ideas
Categories: Dessert; Pear
The History of Recipes
Transcribed cooking instructions as an idea can be traced way back into the far past, in truth as far back into history as early Egypt, and quite possibly further than that. Interesting though that is, in the main part, these ancient cook books were just very simple hieroglyphic instructions for preparing food.
In an interesting twist, the most ancient recipe discovered so far, according to food historians is a series of tablets in ancient Sumerian describing the preparation of bread which is then used to make a drink, quite possibly a form of beer as it is recorded as having made people feel wonderful. During the time of the Romans a man called Apicius created some scripts which described recipes enjoyed by wealthy Romans. In his works, he describes how the meals of wealthy Romans were divided into appetizers, entrees and afters, something that is very familiar to us today. This early Roman chef tells us how the cooks of Roman times used many aromatic flavours, including a few that will be familiar to modern cooks such as basil, mint and parsley. Moving our culinary historical trip onwards, we have a couple of interesting cookery books which were published in the fourteenth century ; a cookery book called `Forme of Cury`, and another, similary entitled `Curye on Inglish`. The titles are somewhat misleading tho`, these two books are nothing to do with the curry that appears on menues today, but instead accounts of the types of meals enjoyed by the nobility of those days. Later on, in the 15th century, knights returning from the crusades brought back many new foods and herbs from middle-east cuisine, including parsley and basil. These new foods and tastes led to a surge in manuscripts on cooking, some of which are now in private cookery archives. When we get to the 20th century, cooking books are increasing in popularity mostly as a result of higher levels of literacy, people having increased free time and having more money to spend. The arrival of TV brings us celebrity chefs and the demand for the accompanying recipe books. Which brings us neatly up to date and the invention of computers and the internet, allowing everybody to search through thousands of recipes like the ones you can find on our site. |
We hope you enjoy this Pear & Fig Strudel recipe.
