Quince Charming

I encountered preserved stewed quince and custard as a youngster many years ago, in a farming environment, I suspect. Thereafter, the picture on labels of quince products on supermarket shelves was about as close as I got to them. Quinces are that type of fruit that you dearly love and crave, or else you might not be bothered, one way or the other.

At Chartwell, we are fortunate enough to have a tree which is fruit-bearing (as quince requires very little water, we’ve probably had a good summer temperament for this tree). It was pruned the previous season by someone who claimed to be an “arborist”, but his credentials have since been queried, I understand. Whether he “hacked” the tree or not, I cannot really say, so we will start with the current situation as “ground-zero” and compare future crops to the 2013/2014 yield.

Our technical management (Prof Google and Dr Wiki) advise that we should pick the fruit as it yellows from the initial pubescent green, and then store the fruit in individual separated wrappings in a cool dark place, to ripen to an overall rich yellow colour. They also advise that one should not pick bruised fruit. We have many with marks and stains (not sure what is the cause), but we will check carefully next season to determine the malady.

(Above): Clayton carefully removes the fruit overhead with extension cutters, which we also use for pruning the high branches. Wherever possible, we try to avoid standing on ladders. Here, Tyler, who had the job of catching the falling specimens to minimise bruising,  has found a cunning use for the little steps instead.

 
(Above): The harvest being collected and checked by Tyler is starting to grow in size, a bit bigger than our January crop forecast…

(Above): Back at the sorting table, ready for wrapping in paper for storage, the specimens are graded for size and colour. Grade 1 is the large big-palm size, while the rest are categorised as Grade 2. Turns out that there were 26 Grade 1 and 42 Grade 2 quinces in this 2013/2014 harvest.

(Above): Ones of full yellow colour, with with no or very little green skin left, will be processed within the next few days, whist the rest will be left to ripen.

Quinces are tart and not good eaten raw. Many cooks like to use them in baking, such as a quince-apple crisp or pie. The quince flesh turns a light pink when baked and has a fragrant, perfume aroma. Other culinary uses include Iranian (meat stuffed into quince cavities), Moroccan tanginess (stews with meat, quince and dried fruits, spiced with cinnamon and cloves), marmalades and jellies.