Monday, November 30, 2009

I Got the Quincey Jones: Quince Jelly

I've been obsessing about quince fruit these days. Here are some posts I've been checking out that fascinate me on the mighty quince.


I want to make so many things, but I was having trouble finding the fruit. For the past few weeks I have been leaving desperate comments on blogs about quince, which were met with kindly compassion. On Friday, a bleak and blustery day, I hit pay dirt with a local fruit and vegetable wholesaler. They had a half case left. I said I'd be there in an hour. On the drive home, the car amazingly filled with the honeyed scent. They were precious cargo indeed. I would have liked them to be a local fruit, but alas, they were from California. I have dreams of getting a tree next year, but it will still be years before we probably get fruit. I know someone has a quince tree somewhere nearby. I intend to find it.

The fruit sat on the dining room table for a few days, making the room smell like honeysuckles. Yesterday I prepped the juice, and tonight I made the jelly. During the day I put the pulp through a food mill, sweetened it and added some clementine zest, cardamom, ginger root, and cinnamon and cooked it down for a bit. We had it with yogurt and it was just the most delicious thing ever. The scent of quince lingers, honeyed, like ice wine, but has a slight acidity that makes it stand up. I also get this really weird back note of metallic onion. It's really weird, and it very well might just be me.
I made the jelly with 4 cups of quince juice, and 4 cups of sugar, 2 tablespoons of lemon juice. Boiled it until it jelled, and did everything as I usually do. The recipe is not very different from apple jelly. Actually, not different at all. So, why, WHY, did my quince jelly stay this golden color? Generally there are raves about the rose color of this jelly. What happened? Fruit not ripe enough? Anybody?

8 comments:

  1. I too have been obsessing over these strangely hard to find fruits. Is this merely a quince-e-dince?

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  2. I adore quince! There are so many interesting facts about quince. I made a quince jam just a few months ago, and it filled the house with a wonderful rosy fragrance!

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  3. You should be able to find them, Dane. Surprised you are having trouble. Do you know that I saw them for sale in Wal-Mart the other day? (Oops, now you know that I went in there. I had to; they were the only ones with half-pint jars left for sale!)

    And, for the record, Quince-e-dince is brilliant. One of your better ones!

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  4. Christine, there are so many great facts about quince! It's true. Did you post about your jam? I would love to see that...

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  5. It's been my experience that the colour of quince changes as you cook it and it softens. I've had to simmer the fruit in juice for quite a while (1/2 hour?) before it turns that crazy orange colour - maybe there's a chemical reaction as it oxidizes / breaks down... or something... ? oh, science.

    Anyhow, this is one of my fave quince recipes - thought you might find it tasty: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Lamb-Chops-with-Poached-Quince-and-Balsamic-Pan-Sauce-236785

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  6. Hi Michelle! Sorry to take so long to respond- you may be long gone by now. Anyhoo- yes, I cooked the quince forever and it was only when I made membrillo that the color changed, and still it wasn't that deep color I see so often. So weird! That recipe looks real good--I'll have to try it next year when I get quinces again! Thanks!

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  7. My guess is the lemon juice. I've been told it stops the oxidation process that's responsible for the red color. But maybe you already know this by now...

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  8. Hi Ellen! Thanks for leaving a comment! That is SO interesting. Thank you. I didn't know that. However, the acid of the lemon juice activates the pectin. Hmmm. What to do? I have gotten quince jelly to be pink with lemon juice. More experimenting to be done...

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