Love apple makes a great complement
Quince (Cydonia oblonga) is a deciduous tree member of the Rosaceae family, which can grow up to 8m. It has grey-green leaves with a wooly underside. The strangely twisted stems are topped by white, pink or yellow flowers. A native of Persia, although some believe it originates in Crete – this arises from its name apple of Cydonia, an area of the island – it now grows throughout Europe and the Mediterranean region in rich soils and hedges. Quince produces a very hard, heavy fruit, which resembles a pear, and is inedible unless cooked, when it will turn pink, although I am assured by my Lebanese friend that fruit from Lebanon is very palatable even when uncooked.
Both Hippocrates and Dioscorides valued the plant as an astringent and as a preventive for spreading sores. This is the ‘love apple’ that Gaea gave the Goddess Hera on the day she married Zeus. It may surprise the Anglo-Saxons to know that the word marmalade derives from the Portuguese term for quince – marmelo. Culpeper recommends using the fruit to combat poisons, which he considered highly efficacious (although I have some doubts) – ‘For it hath been found most true that the very smell of a quince hath taken away all the strength of the poison of white helelbore’.
The plant contains mucilage, cyanogenicglycosides including amygdalin, tannins, and vitamin C. It is one of the powerful astringents, ie a chemical that will contract blood vessels and certain body tissues like the mucous membranes, with the effect of reducing excretion and secretion. This makes it valuable in containing external and internal bleeding as well as containing diarrhea and dysentery. Recently it has been used effectively in the treatment of IBS.
There is a tradition among Orthodox monks of making cough mixtures from the juice and a cure for baldness from the seeds boiled in olive oil. I have encountered a similar recipe from Machairas, which may indicate that there is something in it although the monk that gave it to me was as bald as I am.
The seeds, which are poisonous, make a mucilage that can be applied to mild burns. The same mucilage is used commercially to manufacture mascaras and hair setting gels.
Most Europeans will be familiar with quince as a culinary ingredient particularly in sauces to accompany fatty dishes. It also makes a very piquant confectionery, some of the most delicious glicos are made from quince. One of the best sauces to complement goose is made from the following;
One medium size quince,
250 ml of carrot water,
ground nutmeg,
one desert spoon of sugar,
one ground clove,
juice of half a lemon,
half a glass of dry red wine.
Cook the quince in carrot water until tender. Pulp or sieve them. Reheat and add nutmeg, sugar, clove and lemon. Stir in red wine and allow to settle. Also good with roast pork.
I will not bore you with the numerous recipes for jam and cheese but try to obtain some next time you visit St.Paul’s fete, this is one of the very best sources of quince jelly I know.
Next week Celandine
