[Sca-cooks] RE: Quinces/Cotignac

[Chris Stanifer]

--- Chris Stanifer <jugglethis at yahoo.com> wrote:

> Medieval cooks regarded the quince as the most useful of fruits, and spiced it with
> pepper,ginger,
> cloves, cinnamon and nutmeg. At medieval courts and banquets, nobles enjoyed quince jelly for
> dessert: cotignac in France, cotogna in Italy, and carne de membrillo in Spain, all still
> popular.
> In Tudor and Stuart times, quince marmalade, wrapped in gold foil, was regarded as an
> aphrodisiac.



By the way, and before the furious demands start flowing in.... I don't know what his references
were for these comments at the moment.  I'll see if I can find them, though. :)

William de Grandfort






> Today, the quince is especially popular in subtropical climates, such as parts of Mexico and
> Latin
> America, where deciduous tree fruits like apples do not thrive."
> 
> Further:
> 
> "The main variety at commercial markets is the Pineapple, from California, where about 300 acres
> of quinces thrive in the San Joaquin Valley south of Fresno. The light-skinned, white-fleshed
> Pineapple quince supposedly tastes like its tropical namesake, though it is often picked too
> green
> for best aroma and flavor. The season runs from August into January or February, when a few
> quince
> are imported from Chile. As for other American varieties, a few small growers offer Orange
> quince,
> which actually includes several similar varieties of nearly round, bright-colored fruit. A
> late-season variety is the Champion, a very fuzzy, pear-shaped, delicately flavored variety.
> Then
> there’s the very rare Portugal, which I thought was extinct in America until I saw one recently
> at
> the Santa Monica Farmers Market. It’s a giant, bulbous, football-shaped behemoth, like the
> quince
> in engravings from the 17th and 18th centuries, with a particularly deep, rich flavor."
> 
> The cotignac I have made was very easy to produce, and the high pectin content made it very easy
> to mold and unmold.  I used a Carmex tin, and made a 'Crusader Cross' stamp out of Polymer Clay
> (shhhh!) to imprint the design.  The first attempt stuck to the tin, so I dusted it very lightly
> with cornstarch and the rest came out with no problem.  I'm assuming one could use a bit of oil
> and dusting of sugar to facilitate unmolding, which might be more 'period' (I don't know).  All
> in
> all, the candies were very good (slightly tart-sweet with a nice pink color...not the deep red I
> have seen in pictures), but a bit of a pain to do one at a time in the Carmex tin :)
> 
> William de Grandfort
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
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