cydonia coing quince

Considered native to Persia and present-day Turkey, grafts of quince were made, it seems, with choice varieties originating in Cydon, Crete. Hence the genus name Cydonia.

The English quince is an eventual corruption of that Greek name. This golden fragrant fruit became coin in Old French  and quince in English. What was often translated as apple in English likely was quince– from the apple in the Garden of Eden, to the fruit of the Song of Solomon….all were likely quince.

Much as I love apples, the good, old, tart-crisp ones like Northern Spy and Black Twig especially, quince are just, in another category. Their oddness, of shape, skin, fragrance, flesh. That their white flesh turns an amazing dark rosy with cooking. And on…one post just not enough, so here is more.Wish we had scratch ‘n sniff for our media– I know, it’s, like, coming– the fragrance of these fruit….did I mention they are aromatic?? And if you peer you can see the fuzz that covers their skin.

The quince here are the Smyrna variety, an heirloom thought to have originated in Smyrna, Turkey, and known to store longer than others. They are slightly smaller than what I am used to from California quince.

My dash into the Copake-Hillsdale Farmers Market last week included meeting Ron Bixby, who grows these as well as Russian quince at his Little Apple Farm in Hillsdale. Along with quince, Ron grows heirloom apple and other fruit-producing trees and bushes. We were two quince geeks in heaven  as passerby came up from time to time to look at the crates of quince, asked a few questions and moved on. They don’t know the truth of quince! thought I. And said so to Ron.

10 pounds of Smyrna plus my own harvest from the newly producing quince bush (see posts above) went into an experiment: a cross between preserve & membrillo, in the style of Cotignac d’Orléans but looser. Seems to have been successful. Little pots of quince preserve/paste now ready to brave the winter. Gorgeous. Next to the Concord grape preserve– deep rich amber and dark dark amethyst. Oh, colors of autumn!! A rich-hued pumpkin color, this is quince preserve-cum-paste in an adorable jar. Different from my former preserve as this one is made from the entire cooked fruit that is milled, rather than from the peeled, cored, chopped fruit, and it also has lemon zest. Nice.

Michael Tortorello’s 2012 article in the New York Times has some priceless (for the quince lover, anyways) epithets: “Cutting into the obdurate flesh practically takes a katana.” Check. And, “the key to enjoying quince at home, apparently, is to cook it and cook it and cook it. At that point, the quince is ready to cook.” Check. 

But love, as we know, knows no reason. If quince comes to us from Aphrodite, well then, break out the katana and have at it, xo