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Quince for the memory
Posted by: James Alexander-Sinclair, 23 October 2007, 09.58AM
Spot the odd one out from these four: 1) Quincy Jones (Music Producer who worked with Michael Jackson and Frank Sinatra). 2) Thomas de Quincey (ferociously clever writer and drug addict). 3)Quincy ME (1970s television series starring Jack Klugman). 4) The quince.
Correct: only one is a fruit.
We have just harvested quinces from a neighbour's tree - the one that I planted is only a couple of years old and too pre-pubescent to fruit. The quince (Cydonia oblonga) is a rather neglected tree native to the Caucasus (Iran, Turkey, Armenia and Greece) - not to be confused with the ornamental Japanese quince (Chaenomeles japonica) which is a great wall shrub.
Do you remember the Greek myths about the Golden Apples of the Hesperides? Hercules' Eleventh Labour? Or the apple that Paris gave to Aphrodite (which decision eventually led to ten years of Trojan War)? Well, anyway, the apples in question were almost certainly quinces. They have the most beautiful coy pink flowers in spring followed by fruit that are about six inches long with yellow skins covered with a fine fluff. When harvested and brought into the house they are like knobbly air fresheners and can be smelt all over the house. Put one in the airing cupboard and it will scent your towels.
But: they are not the easiest fruit to use: they are very hard and you can't eat them raw unless bletted (softened to mush by frost - like the medlar which is another neglected fruit). The Romans stewed them with honey (and surprisingly) leeks. In Syria it is used in lamb stew. Isaac Newton's favourite dish was Quince Pie. The Afghans use the boiled seeds as a cure for pneumonia. In Spain it is made into Membrillo - a sort of sticky paste that is delicious with cheese. (The Chileans eat it on its own in sandwiches) They also combine beautifully when poached with pears (with ice cream and a dollop of chocolate) - a way of using up our vast stock of unripe, bullet hard pears. Anybody else have problems with pears that refuse to ripen (the ones that are not eaten by birds, squirrels or foxes)?
Comments
Mag
24 October 2007, 06.37PM
www.veggies-only.blogspot.com
25 October 2007, 08.44AM
Ann O
25 October 2007, 02.20PM
James A-S
26 October 2007, 02.01PM
Sue G
26 October 2007, 05.39PM
Tricia M
01 November 2007, 10.01PM
poshlust
12 May 2008, 02.55AM
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