Still, once you’ve got rid of your quince aversion and tried preparing it yourself, you’ll be amazed by the transformation it goes through, from an unyielding, dull, off-white, hard mass into a magnificent red fruit with a soft, perfumed flesh. You can then use it in plenty of contexts: in desserts or salads, or to accompany fatty and rich meats such as lamb, game or pork.
Ingredients
- 1¾ cups water
- 1½ cups sugar
- 15 black peppercorns
- 4 strips of orange zest
- 2 bay leaves
- ½ lemon juice
- ¾ cup red wine
- 2 medium quinces
- 1 tsp grainy mustard
- 2 tsp cider vinegar
- 4 tbsp olive oil, plus extra to finish
- salt and black pepper
- 2½ cups mixed leaves (such as mizuna, dandelion, watercress or radicchio di Treviso)
- 4 to 5 oz sweet Gorgonzola
- scant ½ cup shelled unsalted pistachios, lightly toasted, some whole and some roughly chopped
How to Make It
- Preheat the oven to 275°F. Take a medium-sized heavy pan that can go in the oven and for which you have a tight-fitting lid. Place inside the water, sugar, peppercorns, orange zest, bay leaves, lemon juice and red wine. Set on the stove and bring to a light simmer. As soon as the sugar dissolves, remove from the heat.
- Meanwhile, use a vegetable peeler to peel the quinces; keep the skin. With a heavy knife, cut the fruit vertically into quarters and remove the core; keep this too. Cut each quarter into two segments. Place the quince segments, plus the skins and cores, in the sugar syrup. Cover the pan and put it into the oven to cook for about 2 hours. After this time the quince should be completely tender. Remove from the oven and leave to cool, uncovered.
- Whisk together until smooth the mustard, vinegar, oil, 4 table-spoons of the quince cooking liquid, ½ teaspoon salt and a good grind of black pepper.
- To finish the salad, place some salad leaves on four serving plates. Arrange four quince segments per portion and some hand-broken pieces of Gorgonzola on the leaves. Try to build the salad up. Place a few more leaves on top. Spoon the dressing over and scatter over the pistachios. Finish with a light drizzle of olive oil. Alternatively, arrange similarly in a large, central mixing bowl and bring to the table.
