fruit-quinces-msg – 2/14/08
Medieval uses and recipes for quinces.
NOTE: See also these files: fruits-msg, fruit-apples-msg, fruit-citrus-msg,
fruit-melons-msg, desserts-msg, fruit-pears-msg, marmalades-msg, Period-Fruit-art, Hst-U-o-Aples-art, crabapples-msg.
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From: Stephen Bloch <sbloch at adl15.adelphi.edu>
Date: Mon, 19 May 1997 15:30:49 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: Re: SC - An Introduction and a question.
> Now for the question .I'm getting married in September and would like to make
> preserves or a jelly of some kind as favors. What I need to know is how
> period are preserves and jelly? Also what types of fruit would have been
> used? One last thing does anyone have recepies or redactions?
Quince Pastes (_Le Mesnagier de Paris_)
<<313. Pour Faire condoignac. Prenez les coings et les pelez. Puis
fendez par quartiers et ostez l'ueil et les pepins. Puis cuisier en
bon vin rouge et puis soient coulez parmi une estamine. Puis prenez du
miel et le faictes longuement boulir et escumer, et apres mectez vos
coings dedens et remuez tresbien, et le faictes tant boulir que le miel
se reviengne a moins la moictie. Puis gectez dedens pouldre d'ypocras
et remuez tant qu'il soit tout froit. Puis tailliez par morceaulx et
les gardez.>> (l. 3213-3221)
"To make quince pastes. Take quinces and peel them. Then cut them in
quarters and remove the eyes and the seeds. Then cook them in good red
wine and then run them through a strainer. Then take honey and boil it
a long time and skim off the scum, and afterwards put your quinces in
it and stir it very well, and boil it until the honey reduces by half.
Then add hypocras powder stir it again until it cools. Then cut it
into pieces and store it."
I'm not sure whose translation this is. Again, I'll have to ask my
wife's permission to post her redaction, which depending on exactly how
you cook it produces something ranging from jam to chewy candy to fruit
leather. We have two Zip-loc bags of them in the freezer right now
(they're very hygroscopic, i.e. if they're out in a humid place they
absorb water from the air and get REALLY STICKY).
mar-Joshua ibn-Eleazar ha-Shalib
Stephen Bloch
sbloch at panther.adelphi.edu
http://www.adelphi.edu/~sbloch/
Math/CS Dept, Adelphi University
From: david friedman <ddfr at best.com>
Date: Tue, 3 Jun 1997 15:27:55 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: Re: SC - Roasted apples!
At 8:48 AM +0000 5/26/97, Jessica Tiffin wrote:
>I've just tracked down and devoured a copy of the Goodman of Paris
>(wonderful stuff). He refers to "roasted apples" in many of his
>feast menus. I'm assuming that this is a standard sort of baked
>apple - would anyone know precisely how they were cooked in period?
>
>Melesine
There is a recipe for baked quinces in Chiquart's cookbook (15th c. French,
as opposed to the Goodman's late 14th c.) and roughly the same recipe for
quinces or pears ("wardons") in Two Fifteenth Century Cookery Books
(English). You have a bottom crust, core your quinces or whatever from the
top without breaking through the bottom, put them on the crust, fill with
sugar (and in the English, ginger; or honey with pepper and ginger) and put
on a top crust. Bake. Very good, but the pie looks decidedly lumpy.
Elizabeth
Date: Thu, 14 May 1998 19:13:38 +1000
From: Robyn Probert <robyn.probert at lawpoint.com.au>
Subject: SC - RE: Recipes as promised (long)
TOMC = The Original Mediterranean Cuisine
TFCC = Two Fifteenth Century Cookery Books
Quinces in general.
Good ones are bright yellow with a tinge of green. If they are wrinkled at
the ends they are getting too old. They store pretty well, but will perfume
your entire pantry (good/bad). Before use, scrub off the brown fuzz under
the tap. The easiest way to peel them is to boil, then peel off the fine
skin, or you can use a vegetable peeler. They brown very quickly, so you
need to drop them in acidulated water (water + lemon - see prev discussion
on list).
Quince Paste TOMC
The recipie given here is a quince paste made with honey, which I have not
made successfully. I'll type this in if someone wants it, but here is a
recipie made with sugar (one of many I have) which is pretty easy. This one
is my version of the one in TOMC, supplied there in place of Barbara
Stantich's usual redaction....
Take 3 quinces and scrub off the fuzz. Put them in a pan (i layer thick) and
cover with cold water. Bring to the boil, cover, reduce heat and simmer for
2 hours. Remove quinces and allow to cool - save the cooking liquid*. Once
cook, peel off the fine skin, then break soft flesh away from the gritty
core - save the cores*. Puree/blen/process. Weigh the puree and add a bit
less than the same weight in sugar. Add 2 cinnamon sticks. Bring to a low
boil for 30 mins, stirring frequently (NB - it will spit quince napalm at
you). Cook until extremely thick or you run out of patience. Remove the
cinnamon and pur out onto trays lined with silicon paper to about 1 cm
thick (half inch). Cool, then dry out in the sun or a very low oven, then
turn out and dry the other side. Store layered up with sugar and bay leaves.
*I used to throw out the liqid, but last time I made it into quince jelly -
perfectly clear without using a jelly bag!
Measure your liquid (volume) and return to a clean pot. (For 3 quinces I had
750 ml of juice) Add about an equal volume of sugar and the cores (tied in
fine cloth). Bring to the boil, simmer and skim for about 20 minutes, then
remove the cores and discard. Turn off the heat, add the strained juice of a
lemon and 150 ml white wine. Skim and pot as usual. Great as a preserve, or
to glaze apple tarts with for extra flavour.
To bake quince pies (The Good Huswife's Handmaid, 1594)
"Pare them and cut out the core; then perboil them in water till they be
tender; then take them foorth, and let the water run from them till they be
drie. Then put into everie Quince sugar, sinammon and ginger and fill everie
pie therewith, and then you may let them bake the space of an houre, and so
serve them."
I guess the coffin is a given in this instance...
Quinces Boiled in a Pot (Stewed Quinces in Red Wine) TOMC
"Take a casserole or a covered frypan. And see that the lid has many small
holes. It is preferable that the casserole or frying pan be new, so that ir
doesn't lend a meaty flavour. And put the quinces in the pan, having cleaned
them. And fill it with almonds and cooked [concentrated] wine so that the
dish becomes smooth and thick. And with the quinces put sticks of connamon
and cloves and nutmeg and mace and grains of paradise. And put this over
live coals with a little heat around the pan, ans boil. And see that it is
covered. And when cooked, slice them neatly and remove the core. And put
them on a plate and sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon and cloves."
Quinces (Quince puree with Almonds) TOMC
"Take quinces, according to the quantity you want to make, and quarter them
and remove the core. And then peel them, wash them in cold water. And put
them to boil in cold water. And when they begin to break up, then they are
cooked, and take them out of the pot. And grind them in a mortar. And blend
them with a little of the cooking liquid and strain through a sieve. And
then take seven pounds of almonds, wash them well in cold or lukewarm water
and grind them in a mortar. And when they are well ground, blend with warm
water and pass through a sieve. If it is a meat-eating day, use meat broth.
And add this milk to the quinces.. Then put in a pot with all kinds of
spices, namely ginger and cinnamon and saffron and grains of paradise and
nutmeg and mace. And if it is a fish-eating day you cannot [ie can't use
meat broth - spices are fine!]. When it turns very thick turn it into bowls
and sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon."
Pureed Quinces TFCC
"Take Quinces, & pare him clene, cast hem on a potte, & caste ther-to water
of Rosys; do it over a fyre, & hele it faste, & let it boyle a gode whyle
tyl they ben neysshe; & if they wol not nen nysshe, bray hem in a Mortar
smal, draw hem thorw a straynoure; take gode Mylk of Almyndys, & caste in a
potte & boyle it; take whyte Wyne & Vynegre, an caste ther-to the Mylke, &
let in stonde a whyle, take than a clene canvas, & caste to the creme, & do
it over the fyre, & lat boyle; take a porcyon of Pouder of Clowys, of
Gyngere, of Graynys of Perys, of Euery a porcuon; take Sugre y-now, and
Salt, & a party of Saffroun, & alle menge to-gederys; & when thou dressyst
forth, plante ot with foyle of Syluer."
In the interests of health, I'd suggest gold leaf decoration rather than silver.
Rowan
Date: Sat, 06 Jun 1998 23:36:52 -0500
From: Philip & Susan Troy <troy at asan.com>
Subject: Re: Jams not period??? (was SC - Mulberry question)
> Several years ago, I spent about 16 months living in Northern
> Brazil, and found in the grocery stores a canned product called (in
> English) guava paste. It was approximately what our High Priest
> described, made of guava. It was not as sweet as some preserves I
> have had, and had that grainy guava texture, but I enjoyed it. They
> also had banana paste, that I liked even more. Much to my delight, I
> have found the guava paste (not the banana, alas :-( ) in the area of
> local grocery stores that cater to the hispanic population. The cans
> are flat, and about 6"in diameter, about 2" thick. Now that I know
> that this approximates medieval preserves, I can pack a can along on
> camping trips with a clear conscience!!
>
> Tyrca
There's a quince variety that is more or less perfectly period, for what
may be the utmost in convenience-food decadence. It's called Queso de
Membrillo in Spanish, but I don't know what it would be in Portuguese.
AFAIK, guava paste, while certainly tasty and prepared according to a
fairly medieval method, is from a New World fruit, isn't it? Quince
paste is a little closer to period marmalades, and you can do neat
stuff like melting it in a double boiler or other pan, and pouring it
into a nice mold. I have a big wooden shortbread stamp with a thistle on
it, and I wrap wax paper around the edges to add depth to it. I usually
make my own quince paste, and cook it slightly thicker, drier, and a tad
more leathery than the commercial stuff, so it's easier to remove from
the mold when it's simply been oiled. For a softer paste, it would
probably be a good idea to oil your mold and dust it with sugar before
filling it with the hot paste.
BTW, you will probably see in period recipes for this stuff, an
instruction to put it up, or print it, in boxes. An Elizabethan
marmalade box is made from tin or copper or some such, molded with a
pattern in relief, usually with a hinged lid punched full of holes, to
facilitate drying of the paste.
Adamantius
Date: Mon, 19 Jan 1998 12:04:35 EST
From: LrdRas <LrdRas at aol.com>
Subject: SC - Decline of Quinces
alysk at ix.netcom.com writes:
<< I had
run across a number of marmelades made with fruit _other_ than quinces,
though those were in the late 1600s. So, somewhere along the way, the
main ingredient changed. >>
According to Waverly Root, the decline in the use of quinces as a food item
occured at the same time cane sugar became more widely available. It seems
that with the acquisition of a sweet tooth the sour quince went to the
wayside.
Ras
Date: Sun, 3 May 1998 15:39:54 -0700
From: david friedman <ddfr at best.com>
Subject: Re: SC - Quince
At 4:00 PM -0400 5/3/98, Bonne wrote:
>The local Wellspring Grocery had Quince Paste in the cheese department. Are
>quinces an old or new world fruit? It was a slice of a somewhat jelly like,
>clear preserve. What would you do with quince paste?
Quince is an old world fruit, and shows up in period recipes. They include
recipes for quince paste. So far as I know, quince paste is a final
product--something you eat--not an ingredient.
David/Cariadoc
Date: Mon, 4 May 1998 09:02:09 +1000 (EST)
From: Charles McCathieNevile <charlesn at sunrise.srl.rmit.edu.au>
Subject: Re: SC - Quince
Quince paste is like fruit pate - you put it on bread, biccys or the end
of your fingers. And it is one of the best things you can do with quinces
- - it is usually seriously good food.
Charles Ragnar
Date: Mon, 04 May 1998 09:28:46 +1000
From: Robyn Probert <robyn.probert at lawpoint.com.au>
Subject: Re: SC - Quince
Bonne wrote:
>The local Wellspring Grocery had Quince Paste in the cheese department. Are
>quinces an old or new world fruit? It was a slice of a somewhat jelly like,
>clear preserve. What would you do with quince paste?
Eat it! It is wonderful as a sweetmeat and is excellent also with a hard
cheese, which is how the spanish eat it. I have recipies if you are interested.
Quines are old world and there are many recipies for them, especially in
period Italian and middle eastern sources.
Rowan
Date: Sun, 3 May 1998 19:58:54 -0400
From: renfrow at skylands.net (Cindy Renfrow)
Subject: Re: SC - Quince
>The local Wellspring Grocery had Quince Paste in the cheese department. Are
>quinces an old or new world fruit? It was a slice of a somewhat jelly like,
>clear preserve. What would you do with quince paste?
>
>Bonne
There is a recipe for Quince Paste in Harleian MS. 4016 ,recipe #182,
"Chared coneys, or chardwardon". The spiced paste is stored in a box strewn
with powdered ginger & cinnamon. It is used in the recipe for Mawmene
(Harl. MS. 4016, #99), where it is dissolved in wine and used to color &
flavor a sauce for pheasant. It is also used in Perys en Composte (Harl.
279, #35).
Cindy Renfrow
renfrow at skylands.net
Author & Publisher of "Take a Thousand Eggs or More, A Collection of 15th
Century Recipes" and "A Sip Through Time, A Collection of Old Brewing
Recipes"
http://www.alcasoft.com/renfrow/
Date: Mon, 04 May 1998 01:45:43 GMT
From: korny at zikzak.net (Kornelis Sietsma)
Subject: Re: SC - Quince
On Sun, 03 May 1998 16:00:49 -0400, Bonne wrote:
>The local Wellspring Grocery had Quince Paste in the cheese department. Are
>quinces an old or new world fruit? It was a slice of a somewhat jelly like,
>clear preserve. What would you do with quince paste?
Quinces are indeed an old world fruit. Fresh quinces are similar to pears,
except much larger, and you cannot consume them raw (they are far too
tart). Cooked, they are wonderful!
As for the paste - I'm not certain what it is used for these days, but
something very similar was used as a confection. I have a period recipe
somewhere for a sweet that involves boiling down mushed quinces, wine,
honey, and spices until you have a thick paste. Once it is thick enough,
you cut it into squares, roll them in sugar, and eat them. The result is
*very* tasty - if rather a lot of work.
The fruit is only available in autumn here, and mainly at large markets.
And the reason I'm currently very familiar with the fruit is because we ran
an Autumn feast on Saturday - report to follow soon - which contained
(among many other things) 26 quinces :)
- -Korny
- --
William Bekwith MKA Kornelis Sietsma | http://zikzak.net/~korny
Date: Tue, 05 May 1998 16:59:00 +1000
From: Robyn Probert <robyn.probert at lawpoint.com.au>
Subject: Re: SC - re:period recipes
TOMC = The Original Mediterranean Cuisine
TFCC = Two Fifteenth Century Cookery Books
Quinces...
Quince Paste TOMC
Quince Pies (The Good Huswife's Handmaid, 1594)
Stewed Quinces in Red Wine TOMC
Quince puree with Almonds TOMC
Pureed Quinces TFCC
Claudia Roden's "A New Book of Middle Eastern Food" makes reference to
quinces being used in Al Bahgdadi's recipies but does not give an example.
Perhaps Cariadoc can supply details... Incidentally, this is an excellent
book containing many wonderful period recipies all of which taste fabulous
(but then I love this type of food).
Rowan
Date: Wed, 6 May 1998 02:09:10 -0500
From: allilyn at juno.com (LYN M PARKINSON)
Subject: SC - Quince honey
For the person who wanted a quince recipe:
Manny¹s Quince Honey
5 large quinces 10 C. (5 lbs) sugar
1 pint boiling water
Pare and grate quinces; dissolve sugar and water over slow heat; add
quinces and cook 15 to 20 min. until clear. When cold, this should be
the consistency of honey.
Manny was my maternal Grandmother
This is not the same as the period confection, but as I remember, it was
a good spread.
Lady Allison
Date: Fri, 8 May 1998 20:25:11 -0500
From: "Decker, Terry D." <TerryD at Health.State.OK.US>
Subject: RE: SC - Re: A Paste of Pippins
> To add a data point, the grocery stores around here carry a "marmelada"
> from a Portuguese company. It's made of quinces, and thick enough to
> slice thinly, almost as stiff as fruit leather.
>
> mar-Joshua ibn-Eleazar ha-Shalib
> Stephen Bloch
> sbloch at panther.adelphi.edu
As a small aside, to quote Lorna Sass in To The Queen's Taste,
"The word marmalade comes from the Portugues