... the only child I might add that is purported to have been
responsible for starting the Trojan War and according to some historians, may
in fact have been the real "golden apple” in the Garden of Eden that led Eve
into temptation and the naughty pleasures of the flesh ... and the rest as they say "is history"...
So … any guesses then c’mon … oh ok … it’s a Quince. But an
only child Ted?? Yep the quince is the sole member of the Cydonia genus in the
Rosacea family – it has loads and loads of family cousins like apples, pears, plums, apricots, cherries, and almonds ... even raspberries are a member of this extended family. The
little thorns on raspberry canes are easy to spot but look carefully at the
branches of older traditional varieties of other members of this family and you’ll find
something similar there as well.
Quinces have clearly been around for a very very long time!!!
Purported to be native to the Middle East the quince is recorded as a very
popular ingredient in ancient Greek, Roman, and Persian recipes. It will happily
naturalise anywhere around the world where it can find a fertile, warm, and
sunny spot, and they have no problem co-habiting with their cousins in the corner of an
orchard somewhere. They were once very popular in British cuisine and even get an honourable mention in Edwards Lear’s 1871 famous literary
piece The Owl and Pussycat – “they dined on mince and slices of quince which they
ate from a
runcible spoon”. I looked up
runcible spoons and they are a very
cool piece of cutlery and I want some … but I digress.
The quince is somewhat of an enigmatic fruit, with all but
three very rare varieties actually being
edible raw, and then only when fully
tree ripened. It must be cooked to
reveal its best, by changing its tough, astringent, and bitter flesh into a
sweet and succulent beauty the colour of an orangey pink winter sunset. While
it seems to have fallen from favour in mainstream British cuisine the quince is
still very much a stalwart of European and middle eastern cooking, where it brings
its gorgeous colour, subtle rose flavoured honey sweetness and texture to
compliment meats like pork, chicken and lamb. In Spain they make the famed “membrillo”
which is a quince paste that goes exceeding well with cheese – any and all cheeses in my humble opinion..
The quince is somewhat of an enigmatic fruit, with all but
three very rare varieties actually being
4 comments:
I've tasted that quince paste with cheese and you are right, it goes very well. I've never had it cooked with meat but, I bet that's good too!
I can't recall ever hearing of it before.
Aaaaaah what a post!
Quinces grow here, and they're traditionally planted as hedges because they act as fences thanks to their prickly branches.
My mother used to make quince paste and jelly but we never serve it with cheese in France, rather as a dessert.
And best of all, I learned about runcible spoons, thanks !
Where does Ted learn all of this stuff? There was a quince on my West Hartford yard when I bought the place, but I renovated that part of the yard a couple of years ago and the quince was pulled out.
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