I decided it’s time to start making my own jam, so why not start with quince, the original jammy fruit. I bought a kilo of late-season quince from my lady of the farm (at a steep price, I must say, especially considering that I had to throw out several which were wormy inside).
Quince is almost a cultlike fruit because it only makes short and rare appearances in winter, and it’s comestability is a bit of a mytery. I finally ate some of the raw fruit, and actually I kind of liked it, but I am also the person who eats lemons straight. Quince is extremely aromatic, but also sour and intensely fibrous. This is probably why it was first used to make jam: its fiber acts as a natural pectin, and the tart-sweet flavor and acidity is perfect for jam.
Here is what it looked like after it had been cooking for a while. First I cored (but didn’t peel) and cut up the quince, then cooked them with about two cups water for about 25 minutes. Then I ran them through the food mill, and put them back in the pan with about 2 T lemon juice and 1 cup sugar, and cooked it down for another 30 minutes or so, adding water as needed to prevent burning. At the end, it’s very tasty, but perhaps not something I would pay money for in a jar.
