Food Finds: Quince

30th June 2009

posted in Food Culture, Food Finds, Food History, Rachel, Recipes |

Before I went vegetarian nearly seven years ago, vegetables for me basically came in a handful of varieties: green beans, potatoes, corn, carrots and the lettuce and tomato atop a burger. Newly-veg enthusiasm and sheer culinary boredom compelled me to expand my agricultural repertoire and I soon began to discover new-to-me fruits and vegetables I love like pink lady apples, plantains, sweet potatoes, dandelion greens and kale, parsnips and okra. There were a few I still don’t like (eggplant, yuck) but now whenever I see a new fruit or vegetable at the grocery story or farmer’s market, I make it a point to try it.

Quince

My latest food find is quince, a small mottled-yellow, lumpy fruit about the size of a large apple. Quince trees, which produce beautiful large pink flowers, thrive in almost every soil, even on chalk. It’s thought that the forbidden fruit eaten by Adam and Eve was not an apple, but in fact, a quince. The fruit was cultivated long before apples in Mesopotamia and was carried by the Greeks into the Eastern Mediterranean. Charlemagne helped bring it to France about 812 AD and it soon began being traded on the Silk Road. Quince was quite popular in colonial New England and by 1720 was thriving in Virginia. The fruit fell from popularity in the states and today is most popular in the Middle East, the Mediterranean and in some Latin American countries, where it’s also used for medicinal purposes and believed to be an aphrodisiac. The fact that I found quince, which cost only slightly more than a large apple, at my grocer’s in the middle of summer is odd, considering that it is a seasonable cold-weather fruit usually cultivated between early fall and January. But thanks to recently passed origin-of-food labeling laws, I could see that my quince was grown in Chile.

I had no idea how to prepare quince and with my customary disregard for directions, sliced it and ate it raw. BIG mistake. The texture of quince is kind of a mix between an apple and a firm, unripe pear, but the taste is tart and sour and leaves your mouth very dry. It was only after I googled quince that I discovered that it is most usually eaten cooked, usually in fruit sauces and jams and jellies or it can be peeled, then roasted, baked or stewed. The tannins that cause the acidic taste in quince supposedly mellow when cooked to produce a fragrant, delicate taste and also turns the fruit a pinkish red color.

I haven’t written quince off yet. I plan to get a few more and try out some of the simpler recipes I’ve linked to below after the jump. Has anyone tried a quince recipe or have one to share? What are some other food finds you’ve discovered?

Easy Recipes

Moderate to Difficult Recipes

Recipes I’ll Never Attempt

Brandied Pumpkin and Quince Cobbler
Quinces and Prunes with Caramelized Brioche
Quince Doughnuts
Quince Sorbet (only because of the alcohol; it’s otherwise pretty simplistic)

Click to Bookmark

This entry was posted on Tuesday, June 30th, 2009 at 11:35 am and is filed under Food Culture, Food Finds, Food History, Rachel, Recipes. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

1 On June 30th, 2009, Allison said:

Quince paste is excellent with Manchego cheese (it’s a Spanish sheep’s milk cheese, fairly easy to find). I’m so glad you discovered it!

posted on June 30th, 2009 at 12:03 pm

2 On June 30th, 2009, The Bald Soprano said:

I think quince jelly is indescribably yummy. (My mother-in-law makes it –and grows her own.)

Right now, we’re struggling to come up with things to do with kohlrabi (from our pre-planted-by-the-city garden plot) other than creaming them.

I only discovered chard last year. Mmmmm, beet greens!

posted on June 30th, 2009 at 12:47 pm

3 On June 30th, 2009, Karen said:

My husband and I love going to Jungle Jim’s, picking a random ingredient we’ve never used, and attemping to make it into something tasty. (For those outside Cincinnati, Jungle Jim’s is an enormous grocery full of both mundane and exotic stuffs from all around the world. It’s also by far the most fun grocery you’ll ever see in almost every way imaginable.) One of our favorites so far is rainbow chard, which is so pretty it’s just more fun to work with. Alas, there have been many others but I can’t remember their names. One thing that I’ll never let into my home again is durian, which stinks to high heaven and was only liked by one of the four people present at the time. YUCK.

We’ve never tried quince but will now! The poached quince and quickie dessert sound really good. I also love the idea of fruit as seasonal air freshener!

posted on June 30th, 2009 at 1:05 pm

4 On June 30th, 2009, Samantha C said:

@2– I had kohlrabi for the first time with a couple of my friends, they just sliced it thin and lightly fried it in some olive oil. Delicious and crunchy good!

posted on June 30th, 2009 at 1:11 pm

5 On June 30th, 2009, Alexandra said:

Please DO try quince again, it’s great! Here in Germany they are very common, and there is a gazillion recipes for it.
I used to hate it as a child, but I’ve come to like it. My mum has a tree in her garden, and every year I make her give me some of the fruit, just for decoration They have a lovely subtle fruity smell and if you’re lucky they keep for up to two months. I usually just pile them up on a dark purple platter and then am quietly impressed with my artistic eye.
My mother also makes a great quince jam with quince, pears and ginger. There are also recipes for quince brandy and a weird concoction called quince bread – it’s basically quince jelly baked – or rather dried – in the oven and then cut into little pieces. Looks a bit disgusting, but you eat it like you would candy.
So please, as a former quince despiser, I beg you to give it another chance.

posted on June 30th, 2009 at 1:15 pm

6 On June 30th, 2009, The Bald Soprano said:

@Samantha C, I’ll have to try that with the next kohlrabi this week!

(OT @ Alexandra: I love your blog’s name.)

posted on June 30th, 2009 at 1:32 pm

7 On June 30th, 2009, Rosalie said:

Growing up in a chinese family, I’ve been exposed to “weird” vegs and fruits since I was a kid. I used to be ashamed of bringing pork and cabbage dumblings to school for lunch when everyone else had ham and cheese or pbj, but I’m old enough now (and foodie enough) to appreciate the variety of foods that was provided for me during my childhood.

I’ve heard of quince, but I’ve never had it! I will keep my eyes peeled for it now that you’ve mentioned it.

One of my favorite vegetables is celtuce (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celtuce) …until 2 weeks ago I didn’t even know it had an english name! Haha. I also like spinach, raw, as a base for salads. So versatile. Unlike you, I’m a big fan off eggplant

posted on June 30th, 2009 at 1:37 pm

8 On June 30th, 2009, City Mouse said:

Quince is fabulous — if cooked. (I made the same mistake you did the first time I tried it.)

You can prepare it any way you prepare apples or pears: sauce, pies, cakes, crisps, crumbles, cobblers, jelly, jams, spiced and canned, poached, in dumplings, candied, etc. My DH and I particularly love to make quince crumble. It’s also very good cooked with apples and/or pears. Apple quince pie is a fall-weather treat!

Unlike apples or pears, quince really does need a bit of sweetener, but not huge amounts; we usually use about one tablespoon of honey or Sucanat per quince.

Enjoy your experiments!

posted on June 30th, 2009 at 1:52 pm

9 On June 30th, 2009, Lynn (The Actors Diet) said:

How interesting! I’ve never had a quince but I have seen them before….

posted on June 30th, 2009 at 1:53 pm

10 On June 30th, 2009, sarahbyrdd said:

I got a few quince (quinces?) last fall and tried baking them like apples … not quite enough cooking and sweetening to make them palatable. I’m thinking a sauce or a paste is the way to go. I love their perfumey smell though.

posted on June 30th, 2009 at 2:49 pm

11 On June 30th, 2009, Lucy said:

I LOVE quince. If you ever don’t have time to make quince jam, you can get really good store-bought versions in any Russian or Polish specialty store. (Which, since you’re in New York City too, is definitely not hard to find.) My family’s Azerbaijani friends always have it on hand for tea and dessert. I think I’m going to attempt some of the other quince pudding-like recipes, though.

You know what’s also good, in a similar vein? Persimmons. I think they’re usually better in winter, but once they’re just right they’re amazing- tons of recipes for sweet and savory persimmon dishes abound too.

posted on June 30th, 2009 at 3:03 pm

12 On June 30th, 2009, sannanina said:

@ The Bald Soprano – two things to eat with kohlrabi:
1.) My mum cuts it into small sticks and cooks it together with peas. Add some parsley and a bit of cream, as well is some salt and you get a nice vegetable side dish (called “Kohlrabigemüse”)
2.) Cut it in pieces and eat it raw. I loved it as a kids, I still love it now – the only important thing is to get them young and fresh enough (but that’s pretty much always true).
Also: http://www.chefkoch.de/rs/s0/kohlrabi/Rezepte.html
(Sorry non-German speakers for the German website)

posted on June 30th, 2009 at 4:00 pm

13 On June 30th, 2009, sannanina said:

Argh… sorry for the spelling/ grammar. Only noticed my mistakes after hitting the submit button.

posted on June 30th, 2009 at 4:02 pm

14 On June 30th, 2009, Mich said:

I love quince, and my favorite way to prepare it is to cut it into quarters, sprinkle with brown sugar, and bake.
Quince jam is good too, and is a traditional Jewish New Year dish for Libyan Jews.

posted on June 30th, 2009 at 6:56 pm

15 On June 30th, 2009, Lisa said:

I made poached quince once and it was delicious! I think I’ll try Mich’s suggestion next time.

Of course, my appreciation of quince stems from my childhood love of The Owl and the Pussycat.

And Karen, Jungle Jim’s is fantastic!

posted on June 30th, 2009 at 9:23 pm

16 On June 30th, 2009, lilacsigil said:

Quince and apple crumble is delicious.

But wait! You *don’t like eggplant*??? I thought the only person in the world who didn’t like eggplant was my mother. Eggplant is a magnificent vegetable, and I still love it even though one once stuck a spine in my finger and it took two weeks to get it out.

posted on June 30th, 2009 at 11:43 pm

17 On July 1st, 2009, Cammy said:

I had a quince tequila during a visit to Mexico a few years ago, awesome!

posted on July 1st, 2009 at 12:10 am

18 On July 1st, 2009, styleygeek said:

I love quince. Quince and apple pie is a favourite at my house. Also it can be eaten raw – just slice it very very thinly and top it with strong cheese! The secret is to have more cheese than quince in each bite. (And take small bites! Imagine you are eating something like olives rather than something like an apple.)

Similarly, slightly less thin slices of quince sprinkled with parmesan cheese and grilled – yum!

The other recipe I use a lot with quince is to poach slices in red wine and sugar, with vanilla bean and cinnamon. Serve with icecream.

posted on July 1st, 2009 at 4:32 am

19 On July 1st, 2009, Bronwyn said:

@Karen- DURIAN omg. I wouldn’t be brave enough to even bring it in my house, let alone try it- and that’s saying something because I do try to taste EVERYTHING.

That said, I unfortunately haven’t really tried all that many weird things, at least not lately. When I was 15 or so I got to go to a horticulture convention in Florida and we got to try a lot of really yummy tropical fruits that you can’t get anywhere..

Now that I think about it there was a good exploration of fruit tasting in my Hort 101 class a few years ago- Pawpaws are very tasty, and one of my favorite things is BABY KIWI. You can find them in the grocery store sometimes, usually in the organic section and usually really expensive but they are tiny kiwis that you eat like grapes because there’s no fur on them. Just wonderful- and actually hardy in cooler areas so you can even grow your own.

posted on July 1st, 2009 at 11:27 am

20 On July 1st, 2009, Aleksiina said:

My parents have a good deal of friends that come from France, so my first experience with quince in my childhood was as a delicious, fragrant “pâte de fruit”. Basically strips of dried quince puree dusted with sugar that you eat like candy. It was delicious, and I’ve wanted to make my own for years but I don’t have a dehydrator so it’s a little tricky. As for trying new fruits and vegetables, well my dear parents also instilled a deep curiosity in my young self, especially with food. I have really easy access to Indian, Korean, Lebanese and Chinese grocery stores, so whenever I see something I haven’t tried I give it a spin. A lot of what I tried I can’t even name since the fruits or veggies in question only had native names that couldn’t be translated in French or English! But my most recent discoveries are Rambutan, a spiky pink and purple fruit that reminded me of lychee, only better and more fragrant, and Pithaya, fresh dragon-fruit. Both were delicious, and I buy them whenever I can. They should be in season right about now, so don’t hesitate if you see some for sale, try it:D!

posted on July 1st, 2009 at 2:30 pm

21 On July 1st, 2009, Sara A. said:

Clothilde from Chocolate and Zucchini has a few posts about her battles with quince. She recommends boiling them for a short time before shocking and peeling. Her biggest complaint is the woodiness of the uncooked fruit.

Most specialty cheese stores sell quince jam. I think it’s lovely. To me, quince jam tastes somewhere between pears and apples with spice. Then again to mangoes taste like peaches with nutmeg to me which causes my friends to think I’m crazy.

posted on July 1st, 2009 at 8:04 pm

22 On July 1st, 2009, merri said:

ive always wanted to try quince. when i was younger i’d collect recipies from random places and found one card all about quince. but then ive never gotten any to try. maybe i will one day.

posted on July 1st, 2009 at 8:14 pm

23 On July 2nd, 2009, intransigentia said:

I’m going to have to keep my eyes open for quince, it sounds interesting. And I can totally understand your not liking eggplant if you’ve had it done poorly – I don’t know your whole eggplant story. But let’s just say that right now I’m thinking about the little Indian restaurant near where I used to work that served this fantastic eggplant dish – perfectly cooked, and the mouth-feel of the eggplant bites is like the softest silk – and I’m salivating and having trouble imagining anybody not swooning over it.

posted on July 2nd, 2009 at 7:09 pm

24 On July 3rd, 2009, Fat Angie said:

I actually like raw quince. I like to put some sugar or honey on the raw quince, because it’ll cut down on the dry mouthfeel. (Then again, I like my sweet guacamole that I made up, with cinnamon and chocolate, so take it for what it’s worth).

I’ve recently discovered how delicious turnips are. I made turnip french fries today, and had turnip and eggplant in the vegetable soup I made last night (although, not being a vegetarian, my vegetable soup contained turkey meatballs). I’m using them as a more flavorful potato I don’t have to cook as long (the turnip CAN be eaten raw, but it tastes horrible)

posted on July 3rd, 2009 at 2:53 pm

25 On July 7th, 2009, 10 Tips for the Newly-Ve(getari)an » The-F-Word.org said:

[...] (eggplant), but many, many more that I did like and have since incorporated in my diet. I now make it a point to try new produce I find, even if I’m not entirely sure what it is or why it has orange [...]

posted on July 7th, 2009 at 11:46 am