Quince trees are known for being tolerant of dry conditions and this seem to be the case with our tree. It has produced a fine crop of quince fruit which are turning from green to golden yellow which means that they will soon be ready for picking. This is not surprising given that they originate from the Caucasus region. Quince also produce very attractive white flowers with a pink flush early in Spring. They need cold conditions to produce flowers. Unlike our apricot tree which flowered well but failed to fruit because of late frosts, the quince tree was untroubled.
Quinces are known for being hard and very tart so not to be eaten straight from the tree however inviting they appear. A bit of processing is needed before they can be deemed edible and I suppose for this reason they are not popular fruits here. We have previously used them as an added ingredient to apple crumble which adds a fragrant flavour. We have also had them baked.
The oft recommended way to use quince is to make quince 'cheese' which is a firm, sliceable fruit jelly. In Portugal quince is called marmelo, and was used as the original marmalade. In Spain quince cheese is known as membrillo and is very popular there. We are going to have a go making quince cheese this year and will report back later as to how we get on.
Interesting. I have made quince jelly and membrillo in the past, using Japonica quinces, and had good success. This year I was given some "true" quinces which I made into jam and chutney last week. Not what I expected at all! They didn't seem to have a very strong taste and certainly no tartness. The jam recipe said to use 3lb sugar to 2lb quinces, but I started with 2lb sugar and decided not to add any more as the mixture was quite sweet enough. In fact it was so bland that I added a bit of cinnamon and clove. It set very well but I haven't sampled it yet. As to the chutney, the recipe worked OK but it needs to mature for a month so I haven't tried it yet. The bit I tasted from the pan had a sort-of pear-like texture.
ReplyDeleteNow I am wondering whether there was something wrong with the quinces I used, or if they were over/under ready. They were still hard, specially the cores which needed quite a bit of force to cut with a sharp knife...
I think the lack of flavour may be, as you suggest, picking too early. All the advice is to leave them on the tree for as long as possible but before the risk of frost to give more time for them to ripen. I'll let you know how we get on with our membrillo sometime; I believe it has to mature for several weeks.
DeleteThere's a house about 5 miles away which put out a basket of quinces with a FREE sign a couple of years ago - I do hope they do it again this year!
ReplyDeleteSpeaking to others it seem like this is a good year for quince so you might be in luck. A friend from church brought in one of her quinces to show me this morning. It was enormous - pressing on for 2 kilos!
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