Our quince jelly. Homemade and very tasty!

The quince. An almost forgotten fruit

Quince jelly, quince jam, quince fruit spread. Quince juice, quince syrup, quince liqueur or quince wine. Our great-grandparents and grandparents had the quince actually still “on the plan”, respectively in the pantry. Quince was also used in many ways as a medicinal plant. Nowadays, however, the aromatic yellow fruit, which somehow looks like an apple or a pear, is almost “forgotten”. Quite wrongly, as we think. In fact, most of the approximately 200 quince varieties are uneatable when raw, but taste great when cooked, steamed or baked. And they can be served with hearty dishes or sweet. The proof comes with our homemade quince jelly.

The quince. A widely travelled fruit

The quince originates from the Caucasus, but is also common in Turkey, Iran, Turkmenistan, Syria and Afghanistan. First evidence of cultivated quinces from the Caucasus dates back 4000 years. In Greece they can be found from 600 B.C., with the Romans from 200 B.C. In Central Europe they have only been cultivated since the 9th century. Here, the warmth-loving plant is preferentially to be found in wine-growing regions.

Today the varieties are mainly cultivated in Asia and Southern and Eastern Europe. In Western and Central Europe it plays a rather subordinate role. Commercial cultivation is rare in Germany, and if it is, in rather sunny regions where a lot of wine is cultivated, such as Baden-Württemberg and the Palatinate, but also in the Rhineland.

“Quince” and „marmalade”. Much more closely related than it seems at first glance

The name “quince” is based on the Greek-Latin term “(malum) cydonium”, which in translation means “Kydonian apple” or “quince apple”. The ancient Greeks cooked the quinces with honey. As a result, the Greek so-called “Melimelon” (=”honey apple”) was considered nutritious and energizing. It helped the sick to recover, and was popular with travellers as provisions. The Portuguese later called the quince “marmelo”, which is still reflected in our word „marmalade”.

How tasty a fruit spread made from quince can be, we would like to prove with our homemade quince jelly. By special request of our hotel breakfast guests, here is now the recipe.

Quince jelly. The recipe

We have to admit: Our quince jelly is again (!) a real community project. Because the quince juice as a basis, actually once again comes from the large orchard of our plumber, or rather, from the juice press of his father. Cold pressed juice from golden ripened fruits, provided with care. A good quality juice as a base is already “half the job” for a good jelly, so to speak. And with this home-made quince juice it’s quite easy.

Addition of sugar: 1000 g sugar to 1 l juice

Heating in a pot: 10 minutes at 90 degrees Celsius.

Mix the cold-pressed juice with sugar at a ratio of 1:1, and boil while constantly frothing (stirring, stirring, stirring!) until you get a satisfying result for your gelling sample. And if nothing melts any more or „runs away”, fill the masse into the preserving jars, close and boil down for about 10 minutes at 90 degrees. Done.

By the way, our jelly is golden, with a delicate rosy touch. Not only delicious, but also wonderful to look at! Enjoy!