[Sca-cooks] Ripening quinces
David Friedman
ddfr at daviddfriedman.com
Sat Oct 10 22:59:47 PDT 2009
>David/Cariadoc wrote:
>
>> Incidentally, does anyone know if quinces can be ripened after
>> picking? Many of mine are deadfalls, mostly a bit green.
>>
>
>
>
>You can ripen them on the countertop. They will turn yellowish,
>with a blush, and give off a perfume. It's after midnight and I'm
>not in reach of my cookbooks, but I remember reading a recipe about
>using "fragrant" quinces, so that's what I've always done. When
>they turn yellow, they are indeed "fragrant," with a sweet and
>rose-like aroma. It's when my husband starts making comments about
>the scent getting a little strong that I know they're ready for
>cooking.
>
>
>
>My method for quince paste is to quarter and core the fruit and cook
>it down slowly in it's own juice, taking out the peels as the fruit
>lets go of them. I continue to cook the mush until it traces - when
>you draw a spoon across the bottom of a pan and it briefly leaves a
>trail. I then cool the pulp, weigh it, add an equal amount of
>sugar, and return it to the pot and continue to cook on low heat
>until you can drop a spoonful on a plate and no liquid seeps out and
>the pulp does not run. I drop dollops on parchment paper and put
>them in a low oven to dry.
>
>
>
>You don't have to do all this at once. I usually cook down the pulp
>one day, then the next add the sugar and finish it off.
>
>
>
>The longer you can simmer your quinces, the more intense the
>orangey-red color will become. A heavy-bottomed stainless steel or
>enamelled pan on low heat works best. I've also done it in a copper
>preserving pan on a rack to raise it off the element (I wish I had a
>gas stove for this), but in my experience it's more likely to scorch
>than if I use my heavy-bottom stock pot.
Good instructions.
Do they correspond to any period recipe you could find? They don't
fit any of the small number I was able to locate, but I'm not very
well informed about nouvelle cuisine.
--
David Friedman
www.daviddfriedman.com
daviddfriedman.blogspot.com/
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