A friend has a quince tree in her garden and in late October often provides me with a bag of the fruit. The smell of the fruits is heady and sweet and with the promise of the rich flavour of the cooked product. This year we made jelly to accompany roast lamb or cheese. The colour was a deep orange. The weather this year produced small ugly green quinces more like crab apples than the large yellow pear like fruit that we have been used to. They are covered in a light, downy fur which should be rubbed off under a tap before the fruit is prepared. The flesh oxidises rapidly when exposed to the air, so squeeze half a lemon or lime over the flesh of the quince to prevent it from going brown.
In Cádiz we are used to eating “carne de membrillo” a course, grainy, set paste which can be sliced and is usually served with cheese. Elsewhere it is also known as dulce de membrillo” The colour can vary from pale yellow to deep brown.
Next season we will probably make this as I am sure we will still have jelly left from the current batch.
