In article ,
Franz Heymann wrote:


Eh? True quinces are LOW on acid! Perhaps you are thinking of
Chaenomeles (a.k.a. japonica, a.k.a. Japanese quince).

No, I am thinking of real old fashioned quinces. The orchard in my parental
home had a number, and my school had a hedge of them. The latter served the
additional purpose of providing the canes for chastisement. Both groupd
were intensely sour to the taste.

Boggle. None of the quince trees I have ever seen would grow well
as a hedge, or be suitable for canes. Japonica would.

Anyway, true quinces are NOT high-acid when ripe, which can be seen
by the fact that jelly made from them needs lemon juice to set well
(or japonica). They are somewhat mouth-wrinkling, but that is not
due to acid.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

The quince used in Western cuisine is like a big yellow Williams pear,
quite hard, and sour until it is really ripe. Lovely smell.

How do you know it's sour?

You can't bite into it - or even hack it with a cleaver - until it's ripe.
And even then you need muscles like Desperate Dan. Or Popeye.

The characteristic feature is that it has a grey down on the skin and smells
sublime ...

Mary

--
Rusty Hinge
horrid·squeak&zetnet·co·uk
http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/hi-fi/tqt.htm

Boggle. None of the quince trees I have ever seen would grow well
as a hedge, or be suitable for canes. Japonica would.

Anyway, true quinces are NOT high-acid when ripe, which can be seen
by the fact that jelly made from them needs lemon juice to set well
(or japonica).

None of the ones I've used have needed any help to set.

They are somewhat mouth-wrinkling, but that is not
due to acid.

Indeed.

Mary


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

"Jaques d'Altrades" wrote in message
...
The message
from emon (Rhiannon S) contains these words:

I know this is probably a silly question, but... How can you tell
which is the
true quince and which is the japanese one?

The Japanese quince grows on a shrub and is like a small apple and is
rock-hard. It is very fragrant but sour enough to draw your arse up to
your elbows. Or armpits if the fruits aren't ripe.

The quince used in Western cuisine is like a big yellow Williams pear,
quite hard, and sour until it is really ripe.

And then it is still sour.

Lovely smell.

Yes, and a lovely flavour

Franz

In article ,
Mary Fisher wrote:

Anyway, true quinces are NOT high-acid when ripe, which can be seen
by the fact that jelly made from them needs lemon juice to set well
(or japonica).

None of the ones I've used have needed any help to set.

Interesting. I had trouble the only two times I tried pure quince
jelly, and Bonne Maman Coigns (or something like that) is by far
the sloppiest in that range.

As several people have said, japonica sets like a rock.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

The message
from "Mary Fisher" contains these words:

The quince used in Western cuisine is like a big yellow Williams pear,
quite hard, and sour until it is really ripe. Lovely smell.

How do you know it's sour?

Where I was at boarding school we had two quince trees. We used to eat
the things, raw, or roasted in the embers of a camp fire, like spuds in
their charcoal.

We started a little earlier in the season than I would advise nowadays.

You can't bite into it - or even hack it with a cleaver - until it's ripe.
And even then you need muscles like Desperate Dan. Or Popeye.

Ah, but we are the macho sex innit.

The characteristic feature is that it has a grey down on the skin and smells
sublime ...

IMO, superlime......

--
Rusty Hinge
horrid·squeak&zetnet·co·uk
http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/hi-fi/tqt.htm

The message
from "Franz Heymann" contains these words:

The quince used in Western cuisine is like a big yellow Williams pear,
quite hard, and sour until it is really ripe.

And then it is still sour.

Oh no. Really quite sweet. We *ARE* talking about the same sort of
quince, I trust? About the size of the average orange?

Lovely smell.

Yes, and a lovely flavour

Well, we agree on something!

--
Rusty Hinge
horrid·squeak&zetnet·co·uk
http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/hi-fi/tqt.htm

--
None of the ones I've used have needed any help to set.

Interesting. I had trouble the only two times I tried pure quince
jelly, and Bonne Maman Coigns (or something like that) is by far
the sloppiest in that range.

As several people have said, japonica sets like a rock.

I've never tried them.

The Blessed Grigson, as far as I know, doesn't recommend them :-)

Mary


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

You can't bite into it - or even hack it with a cleaver - until it's
ripe.
And even then you need muscles like Desperate Dan. Or Popeye.

Ah, but we are the macho sex innit.

Oh.

I didn't know that.

Your place or mine?

Mary

The message
from (Nick Maclaren) contains these words:

As several people have said, japonica sets like a rock.

Should call it Var. Uri Geller..........

--
Rusty Hinge
horrid·squeak&zetnet·co·uk
http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/hi-fi/tqt.htm

In article ,
Jaques d'Altrades wrote:
The message
from "Franz Heymann" contains these words:

The quince used in Western cuisine is like a big yellow Williams pear,
quite hard, and sour until it is really ripe.

And then it is still sour.

Oh no. Really quite sweet. We *ARE* talking about the same sort of
quince, I trust? About the size of the average orange?

Yes. And delicious raw - well, at one school only 5 pupils ate them,
and 3 of those were called Maclaren :-)

But we also chew on sloes ....


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

Ok You've convinced me ) Anyone got a recipe for quince Jam/jelly? Btw it was
a plant I inherited not a single fruit ;o)

Lorraine

"Nick Maclaren" wrote in message
...
In article ,
Franz Heymann wrote:


Eh? True quinces are LOW on acid! Perhaps you are thinking of
Chaenomeles (a.k.a. japonica, a.k.a. Japanese quince).

No, I am thinking of real old fashioned quinces. The orchard in my
parental
home had a number, and my school had a hedge of them. The latter served
the
additional purpose of providing the canes for chastisement. Both groupd
were intensely sour to the taste.

Boggle. None of the quince trees I have ever seen would grow well
as a hedge, or be suitable for canes. Japonica would.

Nick, I received many a hiding with a quince "cane". In fact, in Afrikaans
the common word for a "cane" is a "kweperlat", which, retranslated into
English simply becomes "quince stick". Part of the punishment routine was
that the culprit had to go and cut the damn thing. And in case you ask,
the plants really were quinces and bore quinces as fruit. They looked and
tasted precisely like the fruit called "quince" in England. And they made
quince jelly which looks and tastes exactly like the quince jelly I have
eaten in England.

In the town where my school was, we were fully familiar with "japonicas".
A "japonica" is nowhere near as robust a plant as the quince of which I
speak. Would that our school canes were obtained from japonicas.

Incidentally, the quinces of which I speak had yet another use: They made
excellent catapults.


Anyway, true quinces are NOT high-acid when ripe, which can be seen
by the fact that jelly made from them needs lemon juice to set well
(or japonica).

The setting is not to do with the acidity, but with the presence of
sufficient pectins.
I do assure you most heartily that ripe quinces are sour.

They are somewhat mouth-wrinkling, but that is not
due to acid.

Not somewhat, but considerably. And it is partly due to the acid content.

Franz

In article ,
Franz Heymann wrote:
Boggle. None of the quince trees I have ever seen would grow well
as a hedge, or be suitable for canes. Japonica would.

Nick, I received many a hiding with a quince "cane". In fact, in Afrikaans
the common word for a "cane" is a "kweperlat", which, retranslated into
English simply becomes "quince stick". Part of the punishment routine was
that the culprit had to go and cut the damn thing. And in case you ask,
the plants really were quinces and bore quinces as fruit. They looked and
tasted precisely like the fruit called "quince" in England. And they made
quince jelly which looks and tastes exactly like the quince jelly I have
eaten in England.

I did not say that I did not believe you. I was boggling. Most quince
trees in this country produce relatively brittle, short shoots. They
wouldn't be of much use for canes until they reach 2" thick - and I
doubt that you were beaten with 2" rods!

In the town where my school was, we were fully familiar with "japonicas".
Incidentally, the quinces of which I speak had yet another use: They made
excellent catapults.

Not a unique characteristic :-)

Anyway, true quinces are NOT high-acid when ripe, which can be seen
by the fact that jelly made from them needs lemon juice to set well
(or japonica).

The setting is not to do with the acidity, but with the presence of
sufficient pectins.
I do assure you most heartily that ripe quinces are sour.

Having eaten a lot, I don't regard them as sour. Anyway, the setting
of jelly needs pectin, acid and sugar. I can assure you that I tested
for pectin (and there was plenty), and there was enough sugar, but no
set. 50/50 quince and japonica gives a very good set.

It seems almost certain that your quinces were a different variety
to the common ones in the UK, but could they have been Pseudocydonia
sinensis (which I have never seen) rather than Cydonia oblonga?


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

In article ,
GoldDustRhiannon wrote:
Ok You've convinced me ) Anyone got a recipe for quince Jam/jelly? Btw it was
a plant I inherited not a single fruit ;o)

Look back for a posting of mine, but I suggest getting a book on
such things (e.g. the Penguin book of jams, jellies etc.) You
don't need much of a recipe, but do need some basic information.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.