[Sca-cooks] Quinces

[Daniel Myers]

On Nov 17, 2004, at 3:24 AM, David Friedman wrote:

>> Poling about the web for idea for my quince crop I found:
>> www.coquinaria.nl/english/recipes/04.5histrecept.htm
>> Quince cake said to be a 16th century recipe cited to a "ms UB Gent 
>> 476.
>> Good source for period use?
>
> Quinces in Paste (Du Fait de Cuisine) is good--there is also a version 
> of the  recipe in one of the English cookbooks.
>
> There are various late period recipes for quince paste--which I gather 
> is the original meaning of "marmelade."
>
> There are some meat and quince recipes in the Andalusian cookbook.
>
> The first and third of those are in the Miscellany--no quince paste 
> recipe there yet. Just do a search for "quince."

Here are some quince recipes... if you have a spare dozen or so, send 
'em my way!

68 To make a quince pie. Peel the quinces and cut the core cleanly out 
with a knife, fry them in fat. After that stuff the quinces with 
currants, sugar, cinnamon and cloves. Afterwards take beef marrow or 
finely chopped kidney suet or skimmed fat from some other meat and put 
good Malavosia or Reinfal on it, sugar, cinnamon and cloves, however it 
seems good to you. The dough for the pie is found in number [sixty 
one].
[Das Kuchbuch der Sabina Welserin, V. Armstrong (trans.)]

107 To make a quince tart. Take quinces and cook them well and strain 
it and put sugar, cinnamon and strong wine thereon. Apple and pear 
tarts are made in the same way.
[Das Kuchbuch der Sabina Welserin, V. Armstrong (trans.)]

205 How to make quince bread. Take two pratzamer of quinces and boil 
them in water so that they lie closely together. And when they are 
cooked, take them out, peel them cleanly and thoroughly and pass them 
through a hair sieve, until you have a little less than a half pound. 
And take two ounces of sugar. The sugar must be refined beforehand. For 
each pound of sugar take a quart of water and after that an egg white. 
And put the quinces into a large bowl and stir it around with a big 
wooden spoon for as long as a soft-boiled egg cooks. And after you have 
stirred it well, then put an egg white into it and stir it around as 
long as before. And when you have stirred it, then put two spoonfuls of 
refined sugar into it and prepare it each time as at the first. 
Continue until you have put into it five eggs and the stated amount of 
sugar, then take wafers cut into long strips and spread it on them, 
however you would have it. And lay them on a board and lay it on the 
oven. Be careful that the oven is not too hot. And when it begins to 
dry out on top, then put them on a board in back of the oven, until 
they have dried out. The sugar must stay in weak heat the entire time, 
so that it does not become cold. Then they are ready.
[Das Kuchbuch der Sabina Welserin, V. Armstrong (trans.)]

CXXXIII - To make marmalade of quinces good and fantastic. Take the 
quinces and peel and put to boil in lots of water and cook until they 
are come down; take a basin holed or the grater, and grate very fine 
that you take all that is good, and guard that the seeds don't go into 
the grated quince. Save for 3 days in the air this grated mix before 
you put in the the honey, then for each pound of grated quinces you 
want to have 3 pounds of honey. Bring to a good boil together when the 
honey is cooked add spices fine and if you want for the mixture, put to 
boil a little of sugar, for 3 pounds of quince marmalade you want to 
have 6 ounces of sugar in change of spices. When it is cooked tip it 
onto a table bathed with fresh water, and make it in the way of sheets 
of pasta large and just less than half a finger thick, and make in the 
way of wafers and put in a "albarello" (kitchen salt pot, refers to a 
specific storage vessel) with spices and with laurel: that it does not 
go bad you must boil two hours until it is cooked always stirring. This 
quince marmalade you want to cook always well mixed with a flat wooden 
stirrer, etc.
[Libro di cucina/ Libro per cuoco, L. Smithson (trans.)]

TO MAKE QUINCE MARMALADE, take quinces and peel them, then cut in 
quarters and take out the eye and the seeds, then cook them in good red 
wine and then strain through a strainer: then take honey and boil it 
for a long time and skim it, then put your quinces in it and stir 
thoroughly, and keep boiling until the honey is reduced by half; then 
throw in powdered hippocras, and stir till cold, then divide into 
portions and keep it.
[Le Menagier de Paris, J. Hinson (trans.)]

To make rough red marmelade of Quinces. Take Quinces and pare them, cut 
them in small peces from the coare, then take as much sugar as the 
peces doe waye, and put the Quinces beinge cutt into an erthen pott and 
put halfe the sugar that you waied into the pott and as much water as 
will couer them, then sett them into an ouen with howsholde breade. 
then when they are paked poore them into a postnett or preseruinge pan 
and put the rest of the sugar to it, then bruse them with the back of a 
spoone, then boyle them with sturringe till it will come cleane from 
the bottome of the pan then boxe it.
[Catherine Tolmach's Receipts of Pastery, Confectionary, & cetera.]

Marmalade of Quinces, red. To make red Marmalade of Quinces, take a 
pound of Quinces and cut them in half, and take out the cores, and pare 
them; then take a pound of Sugar, and a quart of fair water, and put 
them all into a pan, and let them boyl with a soft fire, and sometimes 
turn and keep them covered with a pewter dish, so that the steam or air 
may come a little out: the longer they are in boyling, the better 
colour they will have: and when they be soft take a Knife, and cut them 
cross upon the top, it will make the syrup go through that they may be 
all of the like colour: then set a little of your syrup to cool, and 
when it beginneth to be thick, then break your Quinces with a slice or 
spoon, so small as you can in the pan, and then strew a little fine 
Sugar in your boxes bottom, and so put it up.
[The English Housewife, G. Markham]


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