Serves: n/a
Approx cost: n/a
Approx calories (per serving): n/a
Approx preparation time: 6 hours
[dropcap style=”font-size: 60px; color: #0B0B61;”]In my last post I mentioned having received a whole bag of goodies from the mother of a friend of mine. I’ve finally had a chance to do something with them this weekend, in between visiting beautiful French chateaux (haha, pictures from that trip in the next post 🙂 ). So what are they, I hear you ask? Well, the mystery object was 6 kilos of beautiful, home-grown, super fresh, fully organic Quinces! I remember my mother used to have a quince bush in her garden – at least some variant of a quince bush. The quinces never got much bigger than about the size of a golf ball. These ones however…Boy oh boy, they were like huge apples, with an absolutely amazing, perfumed, rose-like aroma. They have a naturally growing “fluff” all over them when first picked – I’m unsure why the quinces grow this, but this needs to be rubbed off and washed thoroughly before use. I was about to borrow a book which gave me many recipes and recipe ideas for Quinces from my friend’s mother and I have a couple of rather delicious things in mind, but both of the recipes use something called a “fond”. The most appropriate translation I could think of in English is “decoction”. It’s also a fabulous way of using left-overs from the preparation process for the other recipes, as you’ll see.
There will be more quince recipes in the coming days, but it’s logical to post a small, simple one first, especially since I have a bit of a headache and a sore throat right now so feel more like sitting in bed (everyone say “d’awwwwwww” 🙂 )
In other news, Eva from Kitchen Inspirations and Stefanie from A Dash of Sugar and Spice were recently kind enough to deem me worthy of awarding me the “Versatile Blogger Award. Thanks very much to both of you! It’s soon coming up to a year that I’ll have had my blog. As some of you may have noticed I try and post once every 3 days. I’d like to do it more regularly but in between work and various other things … well, there just aren’t enough hours in the day – I don’t know how some of you find the time to post so frequently! (I’m looking at you Greg). Anyway – I hope people enjoy reading my posts – I hope I can sometimes inspire, or at the least make you laugh occasionally 🙂
The rules of the award are simple. List 7 “random” facts about yourself which other people may not know, and then nominate 7 other bloggers for the award. A lot of the other blogs I follow have recently been nominated for the award it seems, so I’ll still nominate 7, but don’t worry if you’ve already been nominated before by someone!
Anyway, here’s some random facts about me, as promised:
- I love languages! At school I studied French, German, Spanish. Latin and Russian. I started learning Japanese in the past but gave it up for various reasons. Nowadays I focus a bit more and concentrate on French and Swedish – logical choices as I live in France and my wife is Swedish!
- I once watched “The Matrix” about 50 times within a one month period (I was at University and bored, don’t blame me). After this time I could basically recite the entire script, word-perfect, on demand. Thankfully, that useless knowledge has now gone from my brain.
- One of my favourite smells is tomato vines – or, even better, the smell from inside a greenhouse growing lots of tomatoes!
- I once honestly thought that deer hibernated over winter by digging a little pit with their hooves under a bush and “bedding down” there. Much laughter was heard from my wife when I told her this (yeah – this actually happened a couple of years ago). I don’t know why on earth I thought this – call it a “temporary brain hiccup”… I promise I’m not as stupid as a box of bricks
- Some things I couldn’t do without in life? Chocolate, coffee, bread, coriander, basil, “Limpa” bread from Sweden (holy cow that stuff is amazing… one day I’ll make some and post a recipe!)
- I used to work in a bank in England.
- Now I work for a video games company and used to also play a lot, although a lot of my spare time goes on this blog now. It’s the best job I’ve ever had, and I met my wife here too.
For the nominations, there are a great number of blogs whom I follow, and I love them all (else why would I follow them?) – this is by no means a list to “single out my favourites”, but here are some whom I find particularly enjoyable 🙂
- Joanna, at Stoveless – this started as a blog on “surviving” without an oven when the author lived in China. She’s moved back to the US now but still continues to post there. There’s some fantastic recipes for “oven-free” food there too.
- Jean, at Delightful Repast – I just discovered this blog recently and was glad I did. Just look at some of the recipes on there. Can’t wait to try them out 🙂
- Shilpa, at Baking Devils – I nominate Shilpa here in the hope it will motivate her to come back to the blogosphere. With her friend Jenny they taught and inspired me. Some of the things they stuffed into cakes… just incredible.
- Sissi, at With A Glass – I’ve already learned so much from Sissi, and the things she cooks are so inspirational. Crazy looking Japanese fish, delicious looking mousses, fruit butters… just amazing.
- Shu Han, at Mummy I Can Cook – Another blog I just discovered recently, and a truly charming history. Shu Han makes some amazing looking stuff on here – check her out 🙂
- Kelly, at Inspired Edibles – I’ll nominate Kelly because I’m jealous of her holiday home which she’s posted pictures of before. Did I mention that she posts amazing food too? Well, she does!
- Fati, at Fatis Recipes – One of the reasons I love being part of a network of food bloggers is that you learn so much… so many different ideas, recipes, ingredients. This is one of these blogs which is just wonderful!
and now for the recipe…
Ingredients
- Quinces (I had about 6 kilos)
- Water
Instructions
- Start off by rubbing each quince, to remove all the fluff, and then wash each one thoroughly.
- Peel each quince, cut into quarters and remove the cores (including seeds). Weigh the peel and cores when you’re finished. You will need 1 litre of cold water for every 1 kilo of peel/cores. Add into a saucepan and bring to the boil, then lower the heat and simmer on a low heat for about 5 hours. After this time, strain the liquid into a container and discard the peel/cores, being sure to press as much liquid and “squidge” as possible out from the solids. Keep the liquid for future delicious quincey recipes! See, told you this was easy 🙂
Hi Charles! Congratulations for the awards! Thank you for sharing the random facts about you. The deer bit is hilarious! I also love the tomato plants' smell (in fact it's not the tomato, but the tomato green parts that have this enticing smell!).
Thank you for nominating me and for all the kind and flattering words you have written about me. I feel honoured you think all this about me. Really.
As for quinces, your recipe sounds very easy indeed, but… for those who have never peeled quince in their lives 😉 It's a nightmare! (I made lots of jars of quince jelly last year, then quince sauce, and with both preparations abandoned the idea of peeling them, I recommend my recipes if you wonder what to do with the remaining quince).
I hope you feel better soon!
Oh yes – peeling them is a nightmare indeed. In the end I ran away and left my wife to do it because it was so hot and I had to go to the store to buy some lemons as well. They're all peeled now – we're going to start making the other things tonight. Once of them will be a jelly, the other thing will be rather fun once it's finished, but I won't spill the beans just yet in case it ends up being a disaster! Just took a look at your jelly recipe now – looks beautiful!
Charles, I have forgotten to tell you. Quince jelly is a bit tricky… You should pay attention and not overcook it. Otherwise it loses its delicate taste. However the quince sauce is ridiculously easy (and can be made into a thick butter).
I have also forgotten to tell you I love learning languages and I must say I used to be very good in Russian spelling. I am learning Japanese now, but I suppose you have forgotten most of it 😉
Thanks for the tips Sissi – in general, most of the quince stuff we made didn't really turn out *quite* as intended, but we managed to salvage it with some creative modifications 😀 Unfortunately I have forgotten almost all the Japanese I earned (not least because it brings back some bad memories of my ex) – I could still order a beer though if pushed 😀
Wait deer don't do that? Great post, love the Matrix bit.
Alas not – Might make hunting rather easy 😀
Awwwwwwwwwwww…. sorry to hear about your throat and brain ache – that's no fun at all. I too get headaches this time of year with the changes in air pressure, ie: warm weather on the outs, cold weather coming in (but I'm not bitter about that at ALL).
Congratulations on your nominations – very exciting and well deserved and thank you so much for nominating moi…jealous of my holiday home – you're too funny! I cannot wait to tell my sons that you work for a video games company and that it's the best job you've ever had. You don't understand, this is my 10-year-old's (oops, now 11-year-old's) dream job!! 🙂 Your mom had a quince bush in her garden? wow. I think I need to leave the ice shield 🙂
Haha, well, my mother's quince bush never did much. It yielded these nasty, small, rock-hard things which I used to use as missiles to fire various things which moved in the garden – birds, cats, my sister… I was a little terror 😀 I thought's that what quinces were like though! It wasn't until I came here and saw them the size of small melons that I realised my mothers' bush was "stunted" to say the least :p
I do hope you feel better soon, Charles. It's totally fall weather here already and I am not happy about it. Although having a cold/flu in the summer is brutal; drink lots of home made chicken soup, it's really a cure-all!
The award is well deserved, Charles. And I enjoyed your facts – particularly the deer one…that actually sounds like a sibling prank (or cousin) that stuck. Very funny indeed.
Hehe, I don't recall anyone ever telling me that though to be honest. I *do* remember, however, my father pranking me when I asked him "how did the sun get into the sky?". He told me that the Romans put it there with some burning oil and a very tall ladder. I look forward to pranking my own kids in a similar fashion one day 😀
Oh, your poor kids. Somehow, I think your pranks would be very creative 😉
I can't do without chocolate either.. such a wonderful treat to have in the morning, or noon, or evening. Hell whenever LOL. I've also never cooked with quince so this recipe is very interesting. I would also like to say Congrats on your award! Many of the blogs I visit are receiving awards and you really do deserve it 🙂
Thanks Kay – life is never so sad as when my fridge has now bars of chocolate inside 😀
Rub a little mint on your temples. Not sure why but it's supposed to help with headaches. I've never actually tried this though – just heard it. ;)I prefer the faster way to make myself pain-free (albeit, less healthy and natural) – an Advil and a Diet Coke. 😉
Congrats on the award. Well-deserved if I might say so. Here's another random deer fact for you – baby deer make noise. Not sure how to describe it, and maybe the adults do too, but I heard the babies make the sound. We used to get them all of the time in our backyard. I really miss that. Oh and the bucks come around much more often in winter too.
I don't think I've ever seen or eaten quinces. I'm looking forward to the other recipes as well. Very curious about this little fruit. And I love the picture of the bunch of them.
I think I'll opt for the faster way myself too. My ex girlfriend was big into homeopathy and would force-feed me weird chilli-infused cough syrups and little fluffy mould pills when I was sick in the past. I would have loved to take a couple of days off this week to sleep and get better but I had so much to do at work, and the sick-leave system in France is a huge pain in the ass. It has its advantages (unlimited sick leave with 100% pay), but in England you could "self-certificate" for up to 5 days. So, if you were sick, you could just stay home, call in and say "sorry, sick today". Of course, in England they limited the amount of paid sick leave you got though. Here, you have to get a doctor's note for even one day – Most of the time when I have a raging headache and all my joints ache, all I want to do is lie down, but here you have to force yourself out into the cold. May as well just not bother and go to work and inflict my cold onto everyone else 😀
Your welcome! You totally deserve it! It was so fun learning more about you! I see you're big on languages, too 🙂 And that's really funny about the deer… hehe. What do you do at the video game company? Sounds like a cool job! 🙂
And I have never heard of quinces. They look like pears to me. I'm very interested to see what all you've made with them! I'll keep my eyes open for them.
Thanks Stefanie – I work in a Project Management team here – it's a lot of fun, I like it a lot 🙂
They do look a bit like pears don't there – although definitely not as delicious in the raw form. You definitely can't eat quinces raw, usually.
I so love this post! Thank you for passing on the award… and congrats for receiving it, it is very much deserved!
My blog isn't the only place with exciting new things to learn, because today I learned about this Quince business… by the time I remembered what it was, I remembered it's taste and how I haven't had this stuff since aaaages ago… 🙂
I hope you post some recipes that call for the "juice" you've made from the Quinces, would be really interesting to know what one can make! 😀
Thanks Fati – I love reading your blog so I'm glad to pass it on to you! I've had a cold or something this week so I feel like I lost enthusiasm a bit for cooking. I'll be posting some quince recipes in the next few days, although they won't be quite as cool as I was hoping unfortunately 🙁 Next year maybe… 🙁
U know that many language! and 50 times ' The Matrix' OMG! 😀
Well I have watch a series called FRIENDS multiple times ( 10 seasons at least 10 times and each season has about 25 episodes ) 😀
Aah, I love Friends! I definitely didn't watch it 10 times… probably only 3 I think. Seems like they don't make shows like this anymore 🙁
AW! Charles, thank you so much. My aunt used to make quince paste (which tasted more like chocolate fudge mixed with Fig Newtons than any paste I've ever tasted!) around the holidays and it seemed like such hard work…though totally worth it!!
-Joanna
Chocolate fudge mixed with Fig Newtons? Awesome! Sounds really yummy. I was trying to make something last night, but it failed miserably so I think I might have accidentally made the same thing – it's a thick paste which tastes really good!
The first time I ever heard of quinces was when I read "The Three Musketeers" as a teenager. Porthos' married mistress serves a sticky conserve of quinces to him at a disastrous supper. I was intrigued and looked it up as no one I knew had ever heard of them. I still don't know anyone who cooks with them or uses them in any recipes. 🙂
Hehe, I'm glad I've had a chance to mess around a bit with them. Not something I'd want at home all the time – they start becoming tiresome after some time, but they're definitely fun!
FINALLY finished my post for the versatile blogger award. Thanks again, Charles!
No problem Joanna! Looking forward to reading it 🙂
I ran across a fruit/veggie vendor at city the market on Saturday who was selling huge amounts of quinces so I bought … 2. 🙂
On the advice of the vendor, I'm going to bake them like you would apples with butter, brown sugar and raisins this week. I also found another vendor who was selling quince jam. They only had one jar left which I haven't tried yet. The original vendor, with the quinces, told me that quince jelly was what they sometimes carried, but not this time. My curiosity about this unique fruit will soon be satisfied. Thanks for bringing it to my attention.
"so I bought … 2" – Hahaha, that gave me a good chuckle over my breakfast this morning 😀
I was thinking about baking them too, although I'm not sure what the skin would be like (did he recommend peeling them or not?) – additionally the core is massive. About the size of a star anise pod, and the same shape too. I guess you could bake them with the core still in and remove it at the end.
A friend's mother made a wonderful Quince Jelly which she gave me a pot of. So fragrant and delicious! If you're able to find a good one I definitely recommend trying it!
I'm a bit of a 'chatty Kathy' and actually struck up a conversation with a European gentleman as he was buying several bags of quinces so I thought he might have a good suggestion as to what to do with them. Apparently he was buying them for his mother and he couldn't articulate how she prepared them very well. I got the impression that he wasn't fluent in English. He was the one who suggested baking them 'like you would apples' which I took to mean that they shouldn't be peeled, only cored.
I did some research and found several versions of 'baked quinces' but they all required one to peel and even rub the cut surfaces with lime juice to prevent browning.
The simplest recipe had you cut the quinces in half, remove the core, and put some unsalted butter in the center and then sprinkle with brown sugar and bake each quince half in its own foil packet until tender. Or, you can peel, quarter etc and bake them in a syrup made up of sugar/lemon juice/cinnamon stick/cloves and vanilla extract. Like poaching pears but in the oven. One version makes a decoction of peels/cores and water and then strains it, pours it over the sliced quinces and sugar in a baking dish and bakes it til the quinces are tender.
By the way, I tasted the quince jam/preserve I bought after all as an accompaniment to a spicy samosa that I picked up at an Indian grocery store nearby. It was very nice. Like a sweet chutney.
Haha, yeah – I think the skin might be quite tough and acid, and they brown insanely fast, although if you're baking them that doesn't matter so much. I'd probably bake them as I prepare my apples, similar to how the recipe suggested when it said to cut them in half. Mix sugar and butter to form a paste, push into the well where the core was, sprinkle some crushed walnuts, raisins, cinnamon, maybe a clove or two, pour over some lemon and orange juice and bake in the oven for 45 minutes or so… yummy! Hope you like them! 😀