E6 EZ EE THE WASHINGTON POST.WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 27 , 2021
For the home cook, toss the
poached fruit into a fall salad. Its
sweetness and squash-like texture
pair beautifully with bitter leafy
greens, toasted nuts and shaved
root vegetables. Or sprinkle the
fruit with rose water and serve
with a creamy pudding.
Ghazarian likes to chop raw
quince and add it to stuffing for
roast turkey or pork. “A slice or two
of quince in autumn put into
chicken stock gives an excellent
flavour,” writes Patience Gray in
her book “Honey From a Weed.”
Sweet quince pastes — mem-
brillo from Spain or Latin America
and cotognata from Italy — are a
natural with buttery gorgonzola
or crumbly aged queso manchego.
But the exquisite pleasure of the
fruit is not just in the eating. A
pottery bowl of quince on a kitch-
en table, waiting to be cooked, is
an antidote to the gray flannel
days in late fall. The vibrant yellow
color of the skin and their exotic
scent brighten the room and lift
the spirit.
[email protected]couple of gallons of juice,” says
distiller Jamie Oakes of Tamworth
Distilling in New Hampshire. Us-
ing a hand-crank press is strenu-
ous work, and because the seeds
are high in pectin, it can gum up
the mechanics of a commercial
hydraulic press.
Steven Grasse, the CEO of
Quaker City Mercantile and own-
er of Tamworth Distilling, pro-
duced a small-batch Ginger
Quince Cordial in 2019. Sourcing
local fruit — a core value of the
business — is a b ig challenge. “We
use the distillery test kitchen to do
the craziest stuff with spirits in
small batches to increase our
knowledge,” he says. “We’re in a
rural community in the White
Mountains, and what we produce
is wilderness-to-table.”
Grasse wrote a charming and
informative book, “Colonial Spir-
its,” in 2016 th at includes a recipe
for quince wine. It reads like a w or-
thy undertaking for a history nerd
crossed with a curious home bever-
age maker — so mething to brighten
faltering spirits come February.“My father bought a big box of
about 100 quinces,” she says with a
laugh. “People were wondering
what he was doing with them.”
The fruit is still a mystery to
most North Americans. Organic
orchardist Tremaine Arkley built a
market for his quince through
Portland, Ore., restaurants, a good
move from a consumer education
perspective. Who better to demys-
tify the fruit and bring out its
allure than chefs?
He grows the varietal Portugal
and has 250 trees on his farm in
Independence, Ore., in the Wil-
lamette Valley. “It’s flavorful, easy
to grow, has a smooth skin and is a
good size,” he says. “They can get
to be a p ound apiece.” He also sells
to farmers markets and cider and
spirit makers.
Growth may be promising in
the hard cider and spirit market,
but there are challenges, too. The
fruit is not as juicy as apples or
pears and is tannic. Varieties bet-
ter suited to juicing are not grown
commercially in the United States.
“Out of 10 bushels, we got maybe aalong with strong coffee.”
The sweet sounds like gliko, a
sugar-saturated confit of fruit
from the southern Albanian city of
Përmet, which the Slow Food Pre-
sidium has protectively em-
braced, calling it “a largely forgot-
ten gastronomic treasure.”
A year ago, Aya Wadi and her
mother, Duha Shaar, opened a res-
taurant, Royal Aleppo Food, in
Thunder Bay, Ontario. In return
for their warmth and hospitality,
they received an abundance of at-
tention and goodwill, including a
spot in the U.N. Refugee Agency’s
beautiful free cookbook, “Tastes
From Home.”
Eating kibbe bi safarjaliyeh, a
savo ry meat and quince dish from
Aleppo, Syria, on the first night of
Eid stirs up happy memories. But
the Wadis’ northern location
means the window of availability
is smaller. After their first year
without quince, they began freez-
ing an annual supply, cutting the
fruit into large chunks and sim-
mering it in water with salt and
citric acid to prevent oxidation.are as small as demand. The tree
thrives in hot, dry conditions and
is not terribly cold tolerant. Some-
times the fruit is available out of
season, but cut into it, and the
flesh is brown throughout from
late harvesting or growing and
storing in suboptimal conditions.
“The Caucasus Mountains
b etween the Black and Caspian
seas are the fruit’s center of origin,”
says Postman. It has grown wild for
centuries, and agrarian Levantine,
Sephardic and Orthodox Christian
communities around the Mediter-
ranean, the Arabian Sea and North
Africa cook with it. Ripe fruit is
pre served into jams, jellies and
sweet pastes.
Out of a desire to hold tight to
the memory of her Armenian
grandmother, Barbara Ghazarian
wrote a cookbook, “Simply
Quince” (Mayreni Publishing,
2009). “There were three trees in
her yard, and she put the fruit
down every fall,” she says. “When
my family would visit on a high-
holiday afternoon, she would
serve thin slices of candied quincepeach pitting spoon works a
charm.
It needs cooking — and not just a
little. Watching the fruit turn a sun-
set palette of rose-orange shades
while poaching is a small miracle.
The plant pigment anthocyanin is
responsible, and the intensity de-
pends on the varietal’s tannin con-
tent. Heat creates the magic.
Spooning wedges out of ruby syrup
on a b lustery day is restorative for
the senses and spirit.
Quince season is short, from
October into December, and crops
QUINCE FROM E1
There is
mystery
and magic
in a quince
Poached Quince
8 servings (makes 4 cups poached quince, plus liquid)
Working with raw quince can be a bit of a challenge. The flesh is
dense, the core is tough and full of seeds — use a melon-baller or cut a
deep “v” around the core and pry it out. Serve it with yogurt for
breakfast, chop and add to muffins or quick bread or garnish ice cream
for a seasonal dessert.
Quince can be found at well-stocked grocery stores, farmers market
or ordered online; check with local farm stands first.
Don’t toss the sweet poaching liquid. Store it in the refrigerator and
use it as you would simple syrup to sweeten teas, sparkling water or
cocktails.
Active time: 20 mins; Total time: 1 hour, 50 mins, plus 1 hour for
cooling
Poached quince can be refrigerated in an airtight container for up to
10 days.Ingredients
l4 cups (800 grams) granulated
sugar
l3 cups (720 milliliters) water
lGenerous 1 cup (250 milliliters)
dry riesling
l1 (^1 / 2 -inch) lemon slice
l 11 / 2 pounds (680 grams total;
about 6) skin-on quinces,
quartered and coredSteps
lIn a l arge, heavy-bottomed pot
over medium-high heat, com-
bine the sugar, water, riesling
and lemon, stir and then addthe quince. Cover with a round
of parchment paper to keep the
fruit submerged and prevent
browning.
lBring to a boil, then reduce the
heat so the mixture is at a g entle
simmer and cook until the fruit
is tender when pierced, 1^1 / 2 to
2 hours. Remove from the heat,
let cool completely, then trans-
fer to a 32-ounce or larger lid-
ded container and refrigerate
until needed.
Nutrition | Per serving (^1 / 2 cup): 213 calories,
0 g protein, 54 g carbohydrates, 0 g fat, 0 g
saturated fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 4 mg
sodium, 2 g dietary fiber, 40 g sugarKale and Herb Salad With Poached Quince
6 to 8 servings (makes about 6 cups salad and^1 / 2 cup dressing)
Iceberg lettuce and lacinato kale deliver varied texture, while fresh
mint and cilantro bright flavor. Shaving fennel, carrot and red onion on
a mandoline adds texture and color. If you don’t have a mandoline, use
a vegetable peeler. Tossed with a punchy ginger-yogurt dressing and
garnished with ruby-red poached quince and toasted walnuts, this is a
complex salad that goes well with simple roasted or grilled meats.
Total time: 45 mins
The dressing can be refrigerated for up to a week. The leafy-herb base
can be tossed together, covered and refrigerated for 2 or 3 days.
Recipes From food writer Deborah Reid.
Ingredients
For the dressing
l3 tablespoons olive oil
l2 tablespoons full-fat plain
yogurt
l2 tablespoons apple cider
vinegar
l 11 / 2 teaspoons honey
l1 teaspoon fresh ginger, minced
or finely grated
l1 clove garlic, minced or finely
grated
lFine sea or table salt
lFreshly cracked black pepper
For the salad
l^1 / 2 large head iceberg lettuce
(about 8 ounces), torn into
bite-size pieces
l1 small bunch lacinato kale (6
ounces), stemmed and cut into
bite-size pieces
l^1 / 2 bunch (about^1 / 4 cup, packed)
fresh mint leaves
l^1 / 4 bunch (about^1 / 4 cup packed)
fresh cilantro leaves, leaves
only
l1 large carrot (about 4 ounces),
shaved into strips
l^1 / 2 bulb fennel (about 4 ounces),
shaved
l^1 / 2 medium red onion, shaved
or very thinly sliced
lFine sea or table salt
lFreshly cracked black pepper
l8 poached quince wedges, cut
into bite-size pieces (see
related recipe at right)
l^1 / 2 cup (about 2 ounces)
coarsely chopped lightly
toasted walnutsSteps
lMake the dressing: In a m edium
bowl, whisk together the olive
oil, yogurt, vinegar, honey, gin-
ger and garlic until combined,
then season to taste with salt
and pepper.
lMake the salad: In a l arge bowl,
toss together the lettuce, kale,
mint and cilantro. Before serv-
ing, add the carrot, fennel and
red onion. Add two-thirds of the
dressing and season with salt
and pepper; gently toss to coat
the ingredients with the dress-
ing. Taste and add more salt,
pepper or dressing, if needed.
lTop the salad with poached
quince and walnuts and serve.
Nutrition | Per serving (Generous^3 / 4 cup
salad with about 1 tablespoon dressing),
based on 8: 186 calories, 2 g protein, 34 g
carbohydrates, 6 g fat, 1 g saturated fat, 1
mg cholesterol, 111 mg sodium, 3 g dietary
fiber, 24 g sugarGoat Milk Pudding
and Poached Quince With Rose Water4 servings (makes about 2^1 / 2 cups pudding and 1 cup of fruit)
The creamy pudding and the squash-like texture of the quince are a
nice contrast. Cow or sheep’s milk can be used in place of goat ’s milk,
and the addition of sour cream delivers a delicious tang. If rose water is
hard to find, serve the quince as is or use orange flower water.
Goat milk and sour cream are available at well-stocked grocery
stores or online grocery delivery companies.
Total time: 1 hour
MAKE AHEAD: The pudding needs to be made and chilled for at
least 1 hour before serving.
The pudding can be refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 2
days.Ingredients
lGenerous 2 cups (500
milliliters) full-fat goat milk
(may substitute regular whole
milk)
l2 large egg yolks
lGenerous^1 / 4 cup (60 grams)
granulated sugar
l2 tablespoons plus 1^1 / 2
teaspoons cornstarch
l^1 / 2 cup (125 grams) goat milk
sour cream (may substitute
regular sour cream)
lGenerous 1 cup (about 200
grams or 1^1 / 2 quinces) finely
chopped poached quince (see
related recipe at left)
l^1 / 2 teaspoon rose water (may
substitute orange blossom
water)
lFresh mint sprigs, for servingSteps
lIn a s mall pot over medium-
high heat, bring the milk to just
below a b oil, stirring occasion-
ally to prevent scorching on the
bottom. Remove from the heat.
lIn a medium bowl, whisk
t ogether the egg yolks, sugar
and cornstarch until com-
bined. Whisking all the while,
drizzle in about^1 / 4 cup (60
milliliters) of the hot milk into
the egg yolk mixture to temper
it. Add the remaining hot milk,
then pour the mixture back
into the pot. Set the pot overmedium-high heat, and cook,
stirring constantly to prevent
scorching on the bottom, until
the mixture starts to thicken
and comes to a boil, about
5 minutes.
lRemove the pudding from the
heat and transfer to a bowl. Let
it cool completely, whisking
o ften to prevent a skin from
forming, about 5 minutes.
C over and refrigerate until
chilled, at least 1 hour; the
pudding will continue to thick-
en as it chills.
lJust before assembling, whisk
the sour cream into the cold
pudding until smooth. In a
small bowl, toss the quince
with the rose water.
lReserve some chopped quince
for serving, then layer the
r emaining fruit and the pud-
ding into parfait glasses, begin-
ning with the fruit and finish-
ing with a pudding layer. Cover
with plastic wrap and chill for
at least 1 hour and up to 1 day.
lWhen ready to serve, garnish
with the reserved quince and
the mint and serve cold.
Nutrition | Per serving (^1 / 2 cup pudding and(^1) / 4 cup quince): 341 calories, 6 g protein,
53 g carbohydrates, 12 g fat, 7 g saturated
fat, 121 mg cholesterol, 89 mg sodium, 1 g
dietary fiber, 42 g sugar
Recipes tested by Ann Maloney; email
questions to [email protected]
PHOTOS BY REY LOPEZ FOR THE WASHINGTON POST
FOOD STYLING BY LISA CHERKASKY FOR THE WASHINGTON POST
but knowing that orange zest
would render the idea of a shelf-
stable blend moot, I turned to
granulated dried orange peel (not
pieces or strips). McCormick is
one grocery store brand that sells
it, and it’s also available through
such purveyors as Penzeys and
Kalustyan’s. The citrus flavor
adds an appreciated brightness
and floral delicacy to the mix.
Want to try both? Just make the
full recipe below, divide it in half,
and use half the amount of carda-
mom for one mini-batch and half
the orange peel for the other.
You should feel just as empow-
ered, though, to change any of the
ratios or ingredients to suit your
taste and pantry supplies. That’s
the beauty of a homemade blend.
In addition to using this mix in
recipes that call for pumpkin
spice, you can use it in any recipe
that employs similar warming
spices. Just add up the volume of
all the spices called for in the
recipe and use that amount of the
pumpkin spice instead.
[email protected]
to the party. My other twist is
granulated orange peel. I was in-
spired by another old Post story,
this one from 1969, which said
“pumpkin pie spice is a mingling
of cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, gin-
ger, and, often, orange rind.” This
was news to me! I loved the idea,
allspice a very good substitute.
Which you choose is up to you.
Consider including one addi-
tional spice on top of the basic
four ingredients. My go-to is car-
damom. In a b atch of muffins in
which I tested the blend, it
brought a subtle, piney sweetness
much or as little as you want,
likely with spices you already
have, without buying yet another
jar.
While some formulations call
for a variety of spices in equal
amounts, I prefer a more nuanced
approach that uses cinnamon as
the backbone with ginger playing
a strong supporting role. Based in
part on recipes in The Post’s ar-
chives and from Cook’s Country, I
include smaller amounts of nut-
meg and cloves relative to the
cinnamon and ginger (a 4:2:1:1
ratio), because I find they can
easily overwhelm the other fla-
vors, especially in store-bought
blends. I played around with al-
ternatives that are a little mellow-
er, at least in my opinion. Instead
of nutmeg, try mace, which is
actually a case around the nutmeg
seed that tends to run a bit sweet-
er and softer. I really struggle with
the intense sharpness of cloves
(I’ve been traumatized by too
much bad potpourri), so I found
PUMPKIN FROM E1
It’s a spice blend that predates that seasonal latte, and this update is delicious
Pumpkin Spice Mix
12 servings (makes about^1 / 4 cup)
Homemade pumpkin spice (or pumpkin pie spice) is just the thing to
make your baked goods shine. We’ve started with a fairly traditional
cinnamon-led base that allows for you to choose between nutmeg or
mace (a milder, sweeter spice made from the webbing around nutmeg)
and allspice or cloves, depending on your taste. Then for an optional
twist, you can add either ground cardamom or dried orange peel. Feel
free to adjust the entire formula to suit your needs.
The spice blend can be stored in an airtight container at room
temperature, preferably in a dark pantry, for up to 6 months.
Dried orange peel (not candied), such as McCormick, is available at
some grocery stores. You also can find it through such online retailers
as Penzeys and Kalustyan’s. Look for the granulated peel, not strips.
From Voraciously staff writer Becky Krystal, based on recipes in The
Post archives and Cook’s Country.
Ingredients
l2 tablespoons ground
cinnamon
l1 tablespoon ground ginger
l 11 / 2 teaspoons freshly grated/
ground nutmeg or mace
l 11 / 2 teaspoons ground allspice or
ground cloves
l1 teaspoon ground cardamom
or 1 teaspoon granulated dried
orange peel (optional; see
headnote)
Steps
lCombine the cinnamon, ginger,
nutmeg or mace, allspice or
cloves and, if using, cardamom
or orange peel in a small bowl.
Stir until incorporated and
transfer to an airtight container.
Nutrition | Per teaspoon: 3 calories, 0 g
protein, 1 g carbohydrates, 0 g fat, 0 g
saturated fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 0 mg sodium,
1 g dietary fiber, 0 g s ugar
Recipe tested by Becky Krystal; email
questions to food @washpost.com
SCOTT SUCHMAN FOR THE WASHINGTON POST; S TYLING BY LISA CHERKASKY FOR THE WASHINGTON POST