Red Wine Vinegar Poached Pears With Star Anise

Poached pears are mostly a lesson in patience and fruit selection, and the second matters more than the first.

A bare simmer, firm fruit and a syrup reduced after the fact give pears that hold their shape and carry color to the center.

Underripe pears are the right pears here. A ripe one collapses into the syrup within fifteen minutes and cannot be rescued.

The syrup is reduced separately after the pears come out, because reducing it around them overcooks the fruit.