[Sca-cooks] Quince question - bletting!

[lilinah at earthlink.net]

>From: "Terry Decker" <t.d.decker at att.net>

>"Bletting," retting is what you do to flax to produce linen fibers.
>
>To quote Bush, F.A., Trees and Shrubs, Taplinger, 1965;  "if the fruit is 
>wanted it should be left on the tree until late October and stored until it 
>appears in the first stages of decay; then it is ready for eating. More 
>often the fruit is used for making jelly."  The first hard frost breaks the 
>cell walls and starts the process.  The edible result looks like an an apple 
>that has gone bad, soft and brown, and tastes sweet and mushy.
>
>>From the sound of it, your quince was picked before the frost, so if it does 
>blet, it may take a while.
>
>Bear

I've heard of bletting medlars, but not quinces. Have i missed that?

I buy quinces from the local market, The Berkeley Bowl. They were not bletted. The quinces look fabulous this year.

As for quinces, there's a German recipe from the ca. 1350 Buch von Guter Spiese for chicken and quinces i cooked for a feast that would be nice for a family.

Ein Buch von Guter Spise, German, ca. 1350
30. A good food. Take hens. Roast them, not very well. Tear them apart, into morsels, and let them boil in only fat and water. And take a crust of bread and ginger and a little pepper and anise. Grind that with vinegar and with the same strength as it. And take four roasted quinces and the condiment thereto of the hens. Let it boil well therewith, so that it even becomes thick. If you do not have quinces, then take roasted pears and make it with them. And give out and do not oversalt.

Here's a reduced and slightly altered version of my feast version

5 lb. chickens parts
water to cover
4 quinces
1 loaf of artisanal white bread
scant 1-1/4 tsp. powdered ginger
2/3 tsp. powdered anise
1/3 tsp. ground white pepper
1/2 cup white wine vinegar
chicken broth as needed

1. Preheat oven to 400°F.

2. Pat chicken dry with paper towels (do not rinse chicken)

3. Arrange chicken parts in pan (like a lasagne pan), drizzle with a little olive oil or gently melted butter.
Roast chicken until almost done, about 30 min. If still a little pink, that's ok, as it will cook further.

4. Roast quinces at 300°F degrees Fahrenheit until tender, about 1 hour, and let cool.

If you only have one oven, turn down temperature, put quinces in for 1/2 hour, then put in the chicken on another shelf. The chicken skin won’t brown but that’s ok, since the meat will be torn up.

Alternately, put chicken in a deep pot, add water to cover, and bring to a boil.
Reduce to simmer and cook about 30 min.
Remove chicken from broth and let cool, saving broth.

5. Cut part of the crust from a loaf of white bread and tear up the white crumb.
6. Soak torn bread in vinegar.
7. When soft and moist through, mix with ginger, pepper, and anise, using your hands to mush the bread a bit.
8. Dice roasted quinces, discarding core and seeds.
9. When chicken is cool enough to handle, remove meat from bones and tear meat into bite-sized chunks.
10. Mix chicken and quinces with spiced breadcrumb mixture in a pot, adding just enough broth to moisten.
11. Bring to just to the boil, then reduce heat and cook until mixture is fairly thick. Stir constantly to make sure it doesn't burn on the bottom. Don't cook too long or chicken will become mush.

-----

Here's an Ottoman recipe from about 1430, my translation:

The composition of Seferceliyye. Some meat is turned into kalye. Before it is done cooking some honey is put in and it is brought to a boil, as well as some cut up quinces. When nearly done cooking some dried apricots, plums, and almonds are added.

My Note:
Kalye is a basic Ottoman cooking technique. Many recipes say first the meat would be cooked to become kalye.
To make kalye, cubes of mutton or lamb are cooked in a covered saucepan without any added water or fat, and without stirring, until the meat releases its juices.
Then the lid is removed and cooking continues slowly, stirring occasionally until it browns in its own fat. With modern meat, it may be necessary to add a little fat. Then the other ingredients added as required.

-------

Shirvani's recipe is significantly different from the recipe for Safarjaliyya in al-Baghdadi's book. Al-Baghdadi's recipe includes meatballs, coriander seed, cinnamon, mastic, wine vinegar, sour quince juice, saffron, and rosewater. It uses no sweeteners and no apricots. It also uses almonds pounded with water to give body and richness to the sauce, rather than almonds left in larger pieces.

It is typical of Ottoman recipes that have the same names as al-Baghdadi recipes to use fewer spices, more fruit, more sweetener, and little or no vinegar. So one cannot substitute al-Baghdadi's recipes for Ottoman ones.

-------

Here is a working recipe i have come up for it.

1 lb. lamb, cut into stew chunks
1/2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. honey
1/2 cup warm water
8-12 dried apricot halves
3 Tb. almonds
3 medium quinces
3 Tb. butter
2 tsp. sugar

1. Rinse off meat, put into a saucepan, cover it with its lid, and cook on low until the meat releases its juices.
2. Dissolve honey in the 1/2 cup warm water.
3. Increase the heat to medium and allow the meat to brown in its own fat. If it is too lean, add a little butter. Stir frequently.
4. Add salt and diluted honey, lower heat, and cook until meat is tender, about 35-40 min. more.

While meat is cooking:
5. Soak dried apricot halves in warm water to cover until soft, 1/2 hour or more, then cut them in halves or thirds.
6. Pour boiling water over almonds, let cool slightly, slip off skins, and halve them. You can purchase peeled halved almonds, but they’re often fresher tasting if you blanch them yourself.
7. Peel, halve, and core quinces, then cut them into thick slices.
8. Melt butter in frying pan and sauté quince slices until fragrant.
9. Arrange quince slices on top of meat in pot and sprinkle with sugar.
10. Cook 15-20 min. on low heat, check occasionally, adding a little water, if necessary, so meat doesn’t burn.
11. After cooking, add almonds and apricots, bring just to a boil, simmer for a moment, and turn off heat.
12. Let stand for about 15 minutes before serving.

This lamb and quince recipe is especially good served with saffron rice cooked in chicken broth with rosewater added.

Dane-i Saru or Safranli Pilav
Saffron Rice

In 500 Years of Ottoman Cuisine, Marianna Yerasimos says this recipe is from Shirvani, but doesn't give the folio number or the original recipe. It does not appear by either of these names in the list of dishes in Shirvani according to Gunay Kut. Muzaferiye Pilavi is listed on folios 111r-v (15. Yüzıl  Osmanlı Mutfagı, p. 122-23) and it uses many of the same ingredients.

Modern Version Based on Recipe in Marianna Yerasimos
Makes 8 one-cup servings

1/4 tsp. saffron
2 Tb. rosewater
4 oz. almonds
2 cups rice
4 cups chicken stock
2 Tb honey or 1 Tb sugar
Salt to taste
4 Tb. butter (2 oz. = 1/8 lb. = 1/2 stick)

1. Pre-soak saffron in rosewater for 2-3 hours.
2. Pre-soak rice for at least 1/2 hour in warm salted water.
3. Soak almonds in hot water 10 min., slip out of skins, and cut in quarters.
4. Rinse and drain rice.

5. Put chicken stock in deep pot, add honey and salt, and bring to boil.
6. Add rice, put lid on pan, and cook on high for 3-4 min.
7. Then cook on low for 6-7 min, or until stock has been absorbed.
8. While rice is cooking, melt butter in small frying pan, add almonds, and brown, stirring, taking care not to let burn.
9. Add almonds and butter to cooked rice.
10. Then add rosewater and saffron, mixing well, taking care not to crush rice.
11. Cover pan with a cloth, put on lid tightly, and cook 30 min. on low.
12. Remove from heat and let stand without touching for 15 min.
13. Take off lid and cloth and fluff with a fork.
14. Turn onto serving dish.

The fragrance of almonds, quinces, saffron, and rosewater together is *amazing*

Urtatim (that's oor-tah-TEEM)