Herbal Spotlight: Quince, how to prepare it & my Sweet Quince Paste Recipe

These ancient members of the Rose family have fallen from fashion in most cooking circles & are viewed by many as simply ornamental shrubs. If you live in New England, chances are you've got 1 or 2 in your yard, & it might just be the tastiest thing you didn't know you were growing. If you’ve never taken the time to harvest & cook some up, you don’t know what you’re missing!  Join me as we delve into harvesting & preparing quince, & just what to make with it once you do --

Quince shrubs & trees are grown all over the world, with recipes for quince dating back to ancient Rome. Their flowers herald Spring & are an amazing pale pink; every Winter, I bring branches inside to force & enjoy a bit of Spring in February. Like their relatives apples & pears, quince are also harvested in autumn. They store long & well, as most Fall crops do. Quince are loaded with Vitamin C & are a good source of calcium, iron, potassium, magnesium & copper. And the taste? Delicious -- delicate, sweet, & incredibly fragrant!

Quince are wonderful in desserts & drinks, jellies & pies, & also with savory items like hard cheese & meats. Why then do we not typically see bushels of them at the grocery store? I believe it is because quince are challenging to work with. Simply put, it’s delicious, but you are going to work for it --
​And it will be worth it!

There are many varieties, some are tiny & some larger, some are even covered in fuzz like a peach. All are challenging to peel due to their lumpy irregular-shapes, & are tough to cut & core. On top of that, they are basically inedible when raw -- in fact, the longer they are cooked, the tastier they get. Something truly magical happens when you poach them with sugar & a little water or wine. Not only does an amazing flavor develop, but they turn an  incredible rosy pink​!  The reward is absolutely worth the effort here-- especially when you factor in that most of us are growing & harvesting them for free with zero effort. 

A couple key factors to keep in mind when harvesting-- First off, if they are still green, tuck them aside to ripen fully. Quince grow a beautiful, golden yellow, some with a bit of a blush or small brown spots, when they are perfectly ripe. The riper they are, the more fragrant & delicious they will be. Second, plan an afternoon of processing, then you can use them at your leisure. A nice, rainy Fall-

afternoon with pots of quince simmering away on the stovetop filling your home with their fragrance is lovely instead of tedious. Lastly, I suggest poaching most of your haul. Poached quince is truly lovely on its own, baked into a pie, or used to top yogurt or waffles. Once poached, they will keep for about a week in the fridge or can be frozen in their syrup for up to six months. And don’t throw out that poaching liquid -- it is amazing for all manner of drinks & as an ice cream topper! You can even use it to make sorbet.

While quince jelly may be the go-to recipe for most, my favorite is quince paste. [well, that & Quince Gin, but that is a recipe for another time!] Sweet Quince Paste is very popular in Italy & in Spain, where it is called membrillo, & is best served with hard cheeses such as Manchego or Parmesan Reggiano. I'll cover how to clean & poach your quince, as well as how to make this incredibly tasty fruit paste two ways. Here we go--

Prepare your space to clean them. You will need a large, very sharp knife, a paring knife, a peeler, & a bowl of water with a splash of lemon. Quince will brown like apple slices if exposed to air. As cleaning them is time consuming, I like to place my cleaned slices & halves into the water to keep them from discoloring--it also takes the pressure to hurry off me! Some people like to peel them whole, then set about coring them. I like to cut them in half, then quarters, then peel & core them. Some use a melon-baller to remove the seeds & woody core, I find the paring knife more effective.

Take a moment to appreciate the fragrance coming off them as you work-- almost like vanilla & roses. They are hard to cut-- watch your fingers here! Cutting & coring is particularly hard if the fruit is not ripe. If you are planning to serve them simply poached, keeping them in lovely halves or quarter slices is preferred. If you will be making pie, or jelly, or quince paste with them, there is no need to be delicate about breaking them up. Do what you need to to clean ‘em. There is no rushing this step. Remember that ‘work’ I mentioned? This is it; the rest is just time. ​Once they are all cleaned, we are ready to poach our quince. Some people like to use honey, others sugar or a mix of the two. You will need roughly a cup of sweetener for every one pound of fruit. Some use water to poach, others champagne or Marsala wine to lovely effect. The method I am sharing is super basic in order to give me the most uses for the fruit [& liquid!] afterward.

Classic Poached Quince

2 lbs quince  
2 cups sugar, divided 1 ⅔  & ⅓  [⅓ is for paste to follow]  
1 or 2 whole Star Anise pods  
½  vanilla bean  
2 wide strips lemon peel

Clean & slice your fruit. Place your cleaned fruit into a coquette or large pot. Add enough water to completely cover it by 2 inches. Add 1 ⅔ cups of sugar*, lemon peels, the Star Anise, & vanilla bean to the pot. Bring to a boil over high heat, stirring to combine, then reduce to a simmer. Cook until quince is very tender & turns a pale pink, about 30 minutes. [*if simply poaching, add all the sugar in this step; reserve ⅓ cup if continuing on to make paste]

​

The syrup is a pale, blush pink.

Poached this way, your quince will keep in its syrup in the fridge for a week. You can use it in tarts or pies, or enjoy it as is. The syrup itself is precious & can be used to make many different things as I mentioned earlier. If you wish to make the Sweet Quince Paste, remove the peels, Anise pod/s, & vanilla bean, then strain your fruit from the poaching syrup. Set aside 1 cup of the syrup for your paste. I split the remaining liquid after that-- One bottle for the fridge & the rest goes into the freezer for later, where it will last up to a year

​Sweet Quince Paste
​
​Poached Quince from above  
1 ½ TBS fresh lemon juice  
Reserved 1 cup poaching liquid  
Reserved ⅓ cup sugar

Return the fruit to the coquette, adding the reserved 1 cup of poaching liquid, the lemon juice, & ⅓ cup sugar. Bring to a boil over med-high heat, stirring frequently & pressing chunks with your spoon to break them down. Lower heat & continue to cook until reduced & thick; it will take on a raspberry-pink color as it continues cooking. Quince contain a lot of pectin, so it thickens up dramatically. I like to cook mine for about an hour, low & slow, to really develop the flavor.  Voila--paste No. 1. ​

Rustic Sweet Quince Paste

This is a ‘rustic’ version, chunky & thicker than jelly. You can run it through a fine sieve if you like it smoother. Delicious spread on crostinis, & served with hard cheese or pork.
​If you are willing to go one more step, you can continue on to make the Spanish style Membrillo, which is a set-gelled paste able to be cut into shapes or thin slices. very elegant in presentation, though the flavor will not change.

Membrillo-Style Paste: 
Preheat oven to 125 F. If your oven doesn’t go that low, cook it with the door slightly ajar -- the point here is to dry your paste out, not to cook it.  Line an 8”x8” baking pan with parchment paper & coat it with a thin layer of butter. Pour in your quince paste, smoothing into an even layer. Bake for 1 ½ hours to dry out. Cool before serving. 

There you have it! We are heading into prime quince season-- Hop on out there, pick yours & give ‘em a try! I think you will be thrilled with the results. Local readers: We will be doing an event later this month with Cupacity & I will be using quince syrup in some of the special drinks. Hope to see you there!   That is all for this week-- Stay safe & don’t forget to #StopAndEatTheFlowers