Quinces

It seems like everyone out here is talking about quince ("kwins") paste, or membrillo. Quinces are one of the fruits I had never heard of until I moved to California, along with jujubes and persimmons. Last week I found quince for $0.99 a pound at the best produce stand in California (and maybe the world). Sold.

Qunices look like ugly pears: lumpy and not quite symmetrical, unlike the pretty, smooth fruit we usually see. Homely fruit, in a loveable way. I hear you should pick yellow ones that have no or very little green. I'd recommend large ones because it's less to peel. And I got a bunch of them (5 or 6 lbs, or 8 large quinces) and make a large batch of paste because it's time consuming and keeps just fine.

After peeling, coring, and roughly cutting the fruit, simmer it for about 45 minutes until the fruit is tender. I put the cores and peels in that cheesecloth bag and boiled them because I hear the peels contain a lot of pectin, which helps the paste set later.


Remove the bag of peels and cores and blend the simmered fruit in blender, food processor, or mash very very well. Mix with a lot of sugar: approximately the same volume of sugar as fruit mash. I went short -- about 2/3 the volume -- and was happy with the results. Now simmer again. For a long time, about 1.5 hours, while stirring to keep from crystallizing. Whew. (Maybe, like me, you have a husband who is a good conversationalist and you can have him stir while you assemble a lasagna?) When done, the paste will turn a deep orange and be fairly firm and able to mound without running much.

Not close to ready yet

Put the paste into a container lined with oiled parchment paper. It's very sticky, but using oiled parchment paper solves that problem completely. Spread it flat. I put mine in the oven at 150F overnight to help it set. If it's still not firm enough to remain together, you may need to flip it over and repeat as the top side sets more easily.


It's a lot of work, but the taste is so interesting and unusual that it's worth it. The fruit has a lovely, lightly sweet scent that will perfume your whole house for those hours of simmering. It's not often enough as an adult that you get to try a totally new taste, and this one is really enjoyable!

Yum.

A few other new tastes to try this week from the farmers' market: Pippin apples, Delicata squash, Parsnips, and the fractal-like Romanesco