Quince and Japanese flowering quince are two interesting fruits

These fruits that look neither like apples nor like pears - the large ones are called quince, and the small ones are called Japanese flowering quince (Chaenomeles japonica); both have the word Quince in their English names.

This year London's climate has been especially favorable for fruit growing. We harvested a whole big plate of these two kinds of golden-yellow fruit and set them in the living room, filling the whole room with fragrance, making one unable to resist taking a bite~ The only flaw is that these two fellows are both hard and sour, and can only show their full potential after being processed~ I made the small ones into jam; while cooking, the whole house smelled of honey. Because there are many seeds, I put the cooked juice in a strainer to filter it, then added sugar and cooked it to the temperature at which it naturally sets into jelly (generally about 104°C). The finished jam is semi-transparent and gelatinous, giving off an orange-red sheen, looking very tasty.

At afternoon tea time, eating the jam together with goat cheese and crackers is a perfect match! As for the large ones, usually we like to add them to Middle Eastern-style lamb stew to reduce the greasiness, or, in moderation, add them to vegetable curry, which is also very good. In Spain, quince is often made into a kind of jam called membrillo; this jam is baked with the fruit flesh in a mold, and its firmness is higher than ordinary jam, so it does not easily smear everywhere, is easier to carry on picnics, and can be cut into small slices and eaten together with cheese. When traveling to the Middle East or Europe, if you have the chance, you can try these quince dishes!