Pere in Cartoccio

Pears Baked in Parchment with Apricot Preserves, Dark Chocolate, Hazelnuts & Grappa

Apicius was one of the earliest food writers in history. He lived in the First Century AD and wrote extensively on the food of Ancient Rome. He was also one of the first to document the cooking method that has become what in Italy is today called ‘in cartoccio’ and in France ‘en papillote’, or “in paper”.

Marcus Gavius Apicius

It’s more likely that in Apicius’ time, the cooking for dishes such as his “Creamed Young Goat with Laurel” was actually prepared in animal skin and not the modern paper we have available today, though as far back as 1936 there was a translation of his book De Re Coquinaria from Latin to Italian in which the switch was already made.

Cooking in parchment is a wonderful and whimsical way to prepare anything from mushrooms to fish and sausages and of course these delicious pears. The butter, apricot preserves, chocolate and grappa all steam together with the pear juices to create a heavenly sauce to drape the hot pear slices through.

In fact I once prepared an entire meal in parchment of several courses, and wrote the name of each dish on the paper with a calligraphy pen and some squid’s ink.

The writing is something of my own, and by no means vital. You can use natural food coloring as well, and the blunt end of a wooden skewer if your penmanship can handle the challenge.

THE RECIPE: