Fill a medium saucepan with 4 cups of water. Add the sugar, star anise and vanilla bean. Use a vegetable peeler to peel 4 strips from the lemon and add those too (don't discard the lemon). Bring to a boil and cook until all the sugar is dissolved. Let it cool for 5 minutes and stir in the apricots and figs. Let cool completely.

Meanwhile core the pears and apple, cut them in half, slice thinly lengthwise and place in a large bowl. Juice the lemon and add to the fruit, tossing to coat.

Once the syrup with dried fruit has cooled, pour it over the apples and pears. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and chill overnight.

Use a slotted spoon to ladle the fruit into a serving bowl, sprinkle with the pomegranate arils and serve. Remove the vanilla beans (you can rinse and save what is left of them for another use) and lemon peels if you wish, or leave them in for decoration.