Poached pears

We have lovely friends who often invite us over for Persian/Iranian food on New Year's Day.  I always bring desert.  This year, things are a bit hectic, so I made the one desert I used to make when I was first living on my own: my mother's poached pears. Pretty much any pears are good in this, but juicy flavourful ones will always be best. It doesn't matter what they look like though, so choose them by smell, not appearance.

Combine 200gr granulated sugar and 500 ml water in a medium sized saucepan and bring to the boil.

add:

1-2inc piece of cinnamon stick
3-5 whole cloves
2-3 1 inch strips of orange and/or lemon peel.

Add:

3-6 peeled, quartered and cored pears.

Poach for 15 minutes or until soft.

Serve slightly warm.