Quincetastic

Quince are a fascinating fruit: ancient, fuzzy, delicious and unique. They're similar to a pear or apple but these beauties from Garden of Eve Farm on Long Island have a wonderful floral, almost tropical scent to them.

The Romans mixed it with honey and made preserves and wine with it, a Greek bride would nibble a quince to perfume her kiss before entering the bridal chamber, Paris awarded Aphrodite a quince, and Atalanta paused for a golden quince in her infamous race. Marmalade, which now denotes a citrus jam, originally referred to a quince jam. It is used in cuisine all over the world, mostly for sweets. In France they make a liqueur out of it called liqueur de coing and in Spain they make the famous quince paste, membrillo, that is divine served with manchego.

We at Anarchy are going to concoct a quince jam worthy of a king. With what? Well, that remains a secret!

Till then, jam on.

*We would like to thank the generous Greenpoint-Williamsburg CSA members who donated some of their quince to our jam endeavors. We will in turn donate their equivalent cost to the Greenpoint Soup Kitchen. Thanks, friends and neighbors!