2020, A Good Quince Year at Parsonage Cottage Kitchen

I had to harvest the quince a little earlier than I would have liked because high winds and heavy rain were forecast - quince bruise very easily so I didn't want them to fall from the tree under such a vicious assault.    Much better to harvest them gently then let them ripen in the house.

I have given away six large carrier bags of them, but I still have all of these in store.   These are stacked in the outer porch, where it is fairly cool, others are ripening in the kitchen.   The riper they become, the more the wonderful scent of quince develops, which is an added benefit.

I have made a couple more batches of quince marmalade, but there we can only eat so much marmalade in a year.   I also add them to crumbles and fruit pies, they add a delicious extra dimension.    The favourite mix at the moment is a combination of apple, quince and windfall pears.  

Ordinarily I cook fruit in very little water, however one of my old recipe books suggested using more water and, when the fruit is cooked, drain the water off and retain it as a drink.   It sounds strange, but it is surprisingly delicious.

Just as apples are used in baking cakes, so can you use quince.   My most recent cake bake was quince and ginger, a particularly nice combination.

We are still harvesting our own tomatoes, lots of them.   Roast tomatoes with roughly chopped onion, slice in some quince, drizzle the whole with olive oil and add black pepper.   I normally serve this dish with bruschetta.    I must admit that I will be quite sorry to move on to the heavier food of autumn, but then again it is nice to eat seasonally and the leeks are ready to harvest, which makes me think of soup, so perhaps it's not all bad.

It is yellow in colour, as if it wore a daffodil tunic

and it smells like musk, a penetrating smell.

(Taken from the Jane Grigson Fruit book of 1982)