Quince

_{Quince is the golden apple}

The Quince Cydonia oblonga is the sole member of the genus Cydonia and native to warm-temperate southwest Asia in the Caucasus region. It is a small deciduous tree, growing 5-8 m tall and 4-6 m wide, related to apples and pears, and like them has a pome fruit, which is bright golden yellow when mature, pear-shaped, 7-12 cm long and 6-9 cm broad.

Quince is frost hardy and requires a cold period below 7 °C to flower properly. The tree is self fertile however yield can benefit from cross fertilisation. The fruit can be left on the tree to ripen further which softens the fruit to the point where it can be eaten raw in warmer climates, but should be picked before the first frosts.

In Spain, the quince or "membrillo" as it is called, is cooked into a paste-like jelly and is eaten with cheese. Quince juice from organic farming is available in Germany and its pleasant taste mixes well with other fruit juices. This is where the saying "A quince for you, a quince for me, quinces we shall eat," comes from.

In Lebanon, it is called "Sfarjel" and also used to make jam. The seeds are poisonous and should not be consumed. The very strong perfume means they can be added in small quantities to apple pies and jam to enhance the flavour. Adding a diced quince to applesauce will enhance the taste of the applesauce with the chunks of firmer tarter quince.

The term "marmalade", originally meaning a quince jam, derives from the Portuguese word for this fruit marmelo (Wilson 1999). The fruit, like so many others, can be used to make a type of wine.

In parts of Afghanistan, the quince seeds are collected and boiled and then ingested to combat pneumonia.

Cultivation of quince may have preceded apple culture, and many references translated to "apple", such as the fruit in Song of Solomon, may actually have been to a quince. Among the ancient Greeks, the quince was a ritual offering at weddings, for it had come from the Levant with Aphrodite and remained sacred to her. Plutarch reports that a Greek bride would nibble a quince to perfume her kiss before entering the bridal chamber, "in order that the first greeting may not be disagreeable nor unpleasant" (Roman Questions 3.65). It was a quince that Paris awarded Aphrodite. It was for a golden quince that Atalanta paused in her race.

The Romans also used quinces; the Roman cookbook of Apicius gives recipes for stewing quince with honey, and even combining them, unexpectedly for us, with leeks. Pliny the Elder mentioned the one variety, Mulvian quince, that could be eaten raw. Columella mentioned three, one of which, the "golden apple" that may have been the paradisal fruit in the Garden of the Hesperides, has donated its name in Italian to the tomato, pomodoro.

In colder climates, the fruit has a fine, handsome shape, a rich golden color when ripe, and a strong fragrance, judged by some to be heavy and overpowering. Select fruit that are large, firm, and yellow with little or no green. Quinces should be picked when full-yellow and firm. Quinces must be handled carefully as they bruise easily. This fragrant fruit is available September through January.