You can find the yellow, pear-shaped fruits in markets in Spain from October and a few months ahead. If you’ve sunk your teeth into raw quinces, or membrillos as they are called in Spanish, you’ve probably wondered why they have been considered a delicacy for thousands of years. Incidentally, the healthy quince was considered the fruit of love in Antiquity, and membrillo is a frequent guest on Spanish tables to this day. Try membrillo dulce with some good cheese or put the quince on the grill. Or perhaps make your own quince jam? The path from market to table is short and simple, if you know how.
You may have noticed the slightly strange yellow fruits at markets and in shops. They look like a mixture between a pear and an apple, but are often more uneven in shape. Put to the extreme, one could perhaps say that they seem a little ill-suited to our times’ when we often demand more regular and uniform looking fruits and vegetables. It is a very old fruit, but more on that later. Still, quince is not a pear with “beauty challenges”, even though, like apples and pears, it belongs to the rose family.
The size of quinces can vary but are similar to apples and pears. Quinces are usually harvested somewhat before they ripen and can be stored at room temperature for quite a long time. They are ripe when the skin is completely yellow. Ripe quinces should be firm to the touch and without soft parts or rotten spots. You can also poke your nose into the fruit to determine whether it is ripe: a lemon-like scent is a good sign.
When bringing home “perfect” quinces, you should still refrain from sinking your teeth into the raw fruit, even though the white flesh with 8-16 brown kernels may look tempting. If you choose to taste, so to speak, straight from the tree, you will be greeted by a sour, astringent taste – although it must be said that quinces that are allowed to grow in the sun and heat like here in Spain are far tastier than quince varieties that have had to settle for growing up in the cold north.
Health and irresistible lips?
Quince thrives in most climates, although the fruit originates from the western parts of Asia. In the wild you will often find the relatively small quince trees on hillsides and the edges of forests in countries such as Turkey, Armenia and Georgia. Quince trees are said to have been valued in Mesopotamia in ancient times, and quince cultivation spread rapidly. Around the western Mediterranean, you will find mostly cultivated varieties.
The trees bloom in spring or early summer, and the large white or pink flowers are a magnificent sight many places in Spain, for example in Andalusia. Membrillo is a prized fruit in the Spanish kitchen – where the hot climate helps deliver the most delicious things: confectionery, jelly, cake filling, barbecue and marmalade.
By the way, quince is an excellent source of vitamin C and also contains phosphorus, calcium and potassium, which among other things contribute to healthy blood pressure. Writers in antiquity go quite a bit further in their claims about quince’s health-giving effects. The Roman Pliny, who writes enthusiastically about the quince’s beneficial effects on health, for example, would claim that the fruit protects against the effects of the “evil eye” so feared at the time.
Myths and stories about this ancient cultural fruit are found in abundance. In Greek mythology, for example, quinces are associated with Aphrodite, the goddess of love and beauty herself. Quinces are also associated with the goddess Venus, who is often depicted with a quince in her right hand. Indeed, even the forbidden fruit in the Bible that Eve gave to Adam with unhappy consequences is attributed to the quince which has actually been a known and treasured fruit long before the apple entered the scene.
We know from contemporary sources that quinces were, among other things, used in ancient Greek wedding rituals. Some places it is pointed out that by eating quince, the bride gets lips that smells irresistible. Anyone who is curious by nature can try it at the next suitable opportunity.
Membrillo in the kitchen and outdoors
Nowadays, quince is probably most valued in the Spanish, French and Portuguese cuisines. No one knows for sure when quinces began to be cultivated in these countries, but it must have been very early. Today, according to the website worldatlas.com, Spain is the world’s eighth largest quince producer. (The first three places are occupied by China, Turkey and Uzbekistan.)
Heat treatment has an almost magical effect on quince – it brings out a lovely, exotic scent and taste and a wonderful reddish color. The preparation can be made simple or a little more advanced, depending on what you feel like doing and time available.
The easiest thing you can do is of course to let others do the work for you: Most Spanish grocery stores sell Dulce de membrillo, a sweet, thick jelly-like quince pulp. Because quinces contain a lot of pectin, a natural thickener, the fruit pulp holds its shape to the extent that you can slice it. You can buy it in ready-made packages or have the staff in the fresh produce department cut a suitable piece for you.
Dulce de membrillo is traditional food so. The recipe has changed little from the one described by the Roman writer Apicius in the 4th century AD where boiled pulp of quince is sweetened with honey. You can eat dulce de membrillo as a dessert just as it is, or serve it with some good Spanish cheese and fresh bread.
If you into grilling, you can put slices of quince on the grill until they are soft. (The slices quickly turn brown and oxidize like apples. You can avoid this by, for example, dipping them in lemon juice or good vinegar if it takes a while between cutting and grilling the quinces.) Grilled quince can also be recommended as a side dish to meat and fish.
You can also use quince in pies and as a cake filling. If you are ready to spend a bit more time in the kitchen, you can also make jelly or marmalade. Quince marmalade is considered the origin of today’s better-known orange marmalade. The word marmalade is said to come from the Portuguese word for “quince preparation”: marmelo. Due to its high pectin content, membrillo jam thickens quickly. And both quince jelly and marmalade are products to impress even the most discerning palate.
Here is a recipe for quince marmalade from the cookbook “Modern Cookery” by British Eliza Acton published in 1845. The results are just as good today as they were then:
Eliza Acton’s quince marmalade
• 2 kg of quince
• water
• sugar
Rinse/clean and then dry the quinces in a kitchen towel to remove any “fluff” (furry small hairs). Peel the fruits and remove the cores. Place them in a saucepan and pour enough cold water over to almost cover the quinces. Heat to the boiling point and let them simmer for 35-45 minutes. Puree the mass (Acton obviously didn’t have a food processor or blender, but if you have such tools the job is easier than with a “contemporary” hand-operated food mill). Strain the mass through a sieve, cloth or filter. Then measure the amount of sugar: For every 500 ml of juice, add 280 g of sugar. Return the pulp, juice and sugar to the pot. Stir until the sugar has dissolved and continue to cook over a low heat until the mass resembles thick porridge and begins to leave the sides of the pot when you stir.
Try the marmalade on toast – a classic for breakfast or a snack. And, enjoy the quince; while it is in season!
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