Quinces are such a beautiful and mysterious fruit. Tempting as a perfectly perfumed apple but unapproachable raw (although this is not the case in some food cultures I believe). A bowl full of heavy, downy, golden fruit from my Mum’s tree wafts apple blossom scent down our hall way throughout autumn.
Baked or roasted quinces, slow cooked for a couple of hours have a deep pink, soft but shapely lusciousness that is heavenly with custard; or in a cake; mixed with apple in a crumble; or with a vanilla panacotta (that I was lucky enough to have made for me on my birthday recently but more on that in another post). However my very favourite use for quinces (apart from scenting my house) is to make my Mum, Jeanette’s quince chutney. I can’t live without this chutney. Paired with cheeses of all kinds but especially with Indian food (hot curries in-particular) it is transformational. Better than any mango chutney or fruit relish I’ve ever tried.
However if you’ve ever dealt with quinces you’ll know that they can be a bit hard on your hands if you’ve got to peel, core and dice more than 3 or 4 in a sitting and I did about a dozen last time I made chutney. The core in particular is very hard and difficult to remove and you can end up with red and hurty hands. For the last two years I haven’t done anything with them except smell them and look at them but a few days ago I ran out of my Mum’s quince chutney and I had reached crisis point.
My Mum made me the last batch I had stored away (just after Lola was born – it was a much appreciated gift when I was pretty well in la-la land with a new-born baby) but clearly the time had come to make some more. This time I took it easy and made just one quantity. I may make one more batch before the quinces in my bowl have to be thrown out but I feel much more secure knowing I have four (and a half) new jars in the pantry.
I also discovered that the secret to making them with less pain is to opt to use the grater on the food processor instead of hand chopping them into fine dice (this really is a labour of love – and a great way to form those workers calluses you’ve always wanted).
It’s hard to beat a quince tree for pretty too. Lovely soft lime green leaves, dainty pink blossom and ornamental as well as practical fruit waiting to be transformed into decadent desserts (and of course chutney). So if you want a pretty ornamental but really want it to work for you too, it’s a great choice for your garden. If you’re interested in planting one check out the Gardening Australia website for an information sheet on the quince. Here’s a snippet of information from the site
Quinces originated from Persia, now Iran, and then spread throughout the Mediterranean. Many ancient Greek myths refer to ‘golden apples’, which could be the quince. The lumpy appearance of the fruit is quite ornamental, and the tree after many decades develops great character with a gnarled and twisted form to the trunk and lower branches. Since ancient times the quince has been a symbol of love and fertility.
If you know someone with a quince tree they’ll probably be happy to give you some as it’s hard to deal with all of them. If not I know they are still available at the Central Market in Adelaide and very likely at other farmers and fresh produce markets around the country. You’ll never go back to any other chutney for Indian curries.
Jeanette’s Quince Chutney
1.5 kg quinces (weighed after peeling and coring) finely diced or grated in food processor
2 onions, finely chopped
2 cups of sugar
2 cups of white vinegar (I’ve tried it with cider vinegar and white wine vinegar but can’t tell the difference in the taste of the final product so now I just go with the cheaper option)
2-teaspoons of juniper berries lightly crushed
1-teaspoon salt
Add all ingredients to a large saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer gently for about two hours to reach a deep pink colour and a good thickness so that it is no longer soupy – more like a loose jam.
Stir regularly, and watch carefully when it starts to thicken or it will stick to the bottom of the pan and scorch (you need a rainy Sunday afternoon for this).
This amount fills about 4 jam jars or so (but best to have a smaller jar on hand for the leftovers).
To sterilise jars the easiest method I’ve found is to run them through the dishwasher – this will make sure they are clean and sterilised as long as you fill them while both the chutney and the jars (and lids) are still hot (a bit of tea-towel action is needed to handle the hot jars).
Once filled (and still hot) screw lids on loosely then place them all in the microwave together and heat on high for 1 minute. Take them out and screw lids on tight. Generally the lids will then vacuum seal themselves (the little button on the top will eventually go down – if you have those kind of lids).
Store in pantry indefinitely. Once opened keep refrigerated.
It’s a great excuse to buy some beautiful cheese or make a fabulous Indian curry!
I went back through your blog to find this chutney recipe, since we are big fans of chutney in this house. Looks great! I am jealous both of your steady supply of quinces and a mum who can cook.
Yes, Amanda, my Mum is my food hero! I highly recommend this quince chutney (in case you hadn’t gathered :))
Fabulous -I shall be having a go at this soon. My quince glut is nearly upon me.
Have you tried quince vodka? Grated quinces and sugar, covered with vodka (or brandy)and left alone for three months. Ready for Christmas in my part of the world. So good to know they can be grated in the food processor.
Sue x
Sue – thanks for dropping by. I’ll have to give the vodka recipe try next season (esp as it sounds so easy). Yes the food processor grating makes light work of dealing with lots of them.
[…] buddy to plant a quince tree in her extensive back yard. The internet pointed to something called my mum’s quince chutney, which sounded as though it ought to be good. First there’s the use of ‘mum’ […]
[…] After a quick taste test of last week’s adventure, we started with a variant of the quince juniper chutney from, although we speeded things up by chopping everything in the food processor, and then using kitchen scissors to snip the large bits of onion that got left behind. We added ginger for an extra kick, and I managed to screw up the measurements by forgetting how much I had weighed and then adding more vinegar by mistake. Here’s a guesstimate of what we did, adapted from “My Mum’s Quince Chutney”. […]
Have just googled Quince Chutney recipes and yours came up – have been given quite a lot and will be making it this week – just brings back so many memories of my grandmother in England who had a huge tree and we used to have them stewed, jamed, bottled etc. Looking forward to tasting the results.
Thank you for a great recipe. Our quince tree had its first crop this year : 30 !
I cut the raw fruit into four with a big chopping knife (Japanese style), steam them for minutes, then you can peel and core them without suffering !
I practically ended up in ER with numerous knife wounds to my hands because of the difficulty of preparing the quinces. I can’t wait to try your method.
Many thanks.
Elspeth
I like the idea of steaming before peeling and coring! Thanks for the tip.
Cheers
Sarah
Hi, this looks great! Going to try tonight BUT can you suggest a substitution for the juniper berries? Thanks!
Hi Katrina
I’ve never had a problem finding packets of dried juniper berries in the spice section of my local supermarket but if you’re stuck I found these two suggestions on the net.
Using Gin
In any recipe calling for juniper berries, substitute 1 tsp. of gin for every two berries. You do not have to use high quality and expensive gin for this purpose–even the least expensive gin will give the flavor of the berries to the recipe. After you taste the dish prepared this way, you can determine whether you need more or less gin in the recipe the next time you make the dish. The alcohol in the gin will evaporate as the dish cooks, leaving behind only the flavor.
Herbs and Spices
Try fresh rosemary sprigs instead of juniper berries. While the taste is a bit different, it is similar enough to use as a substitution. Figure on one sprig for every four berries. A single, crushed bay leaf will serve as a substitute for six juniper berries in most recipes. Equal parts of powdered bay leaf and caraway seeds can also be used as a substitution, using 1 tsp. of the herb mix for every two berries called for in the recipe.
Cheers
Sarah
thanks for the recipe I am going to make chutney tomorrow .My friend keeps me suppled with Quinces I love the smell She suggested cooking them first which I have done .Can,t wait to get started .What can I use instead of Juniper Berriies..
Hi Marie – I hope you enjoy the recipe. See my reply about juniper berries further down.
Cheers
Sarah
I am so happy to have found your blog! I am Australian but live in Germany at the moment. I have. large quince tree in the gardeb and I cook with them and even had a funraiser cooking class here at home some weeks ago. I will try your Mum’s chutney. Love your blog and I didi a post on my quince tree a year ago. The left over quince I take to a little distillery and so we have quince schnapps to drink when it is cold and we get snowed in. Thanks so much for your lovley blog!
[…] Oryginalny przepis z którego nabrałam inspiracji jest na blogu For the Love of Food […]
I just completed with only one wound and 3 pots of chutney. I haven’t tried it yet, but hoping it will be as good as the mango chutney recipe I have. I have been looking for a good quince one for ages as I have exhausted the quince jam option, and there are only so many baked puddings you can do. Will keep you updated once I get around to the indian dish to go with it.
[…] with them. So I turned to google and found a number of intriguing recipes, including this one for Quince Chutney. I made an offhand (and somewhat undiplomatic) comment about how jealous I was of the fact that […]
I made a lot of this last year and my daughter, who is 22, developed a craving for this particular chutney. Not many quinces this year, but what we do have will mostly go to making more of this chutney. Unusual and delicious flavor.
I find rubber gloves help with screwing jar lids very tightly, plus when handling hot stuff, the heat does not penetrate the glove.
This looks tasty! We have quite a few quinces and so too does our neighbour (she has offered them to us) so I’m going to give this a try.
Hi Sarah – i am trying out the quince chutney recipe, at the moment it has been simmering for 3 hours and looks like a quince version of red cabbage? not soupy or like a loose jam! Oh dear. Am I doing something wrong I wonder? Also – when you specify cups, do you mean the same as American cups, ie 250 ml?
Thanks
Over 3 years since the last post on your quince chutney. As mentioned above I googled it & voila! Lucky me had juniper berries (in a jar) and I loved the very light pinkish/orange-ish colour. Have had a lovely day here in the Central Tablelands of NSW today making my chutney. Thank you!
Hello – I found your recipie – hope you are still blogging! I put in a quince tree about 5 years ago when I moved to a farm – she is a darling tree and gives an abundance of fruit.
I rub off the fluff and bake quinces before I do anything with them now – you can peel them more easily or even just leave the skin on when you cook them – I figure that most vegie skins are good for us! Its smelling great! I lookforward to the finished product.
In Australia so want to substitute your berries
Two teaspoons of gin is that per berry or per teaspoon of berries?
Hi Karen – the suggestion is 1 tsp of gin for every 2 berries. I haven’t tried this myself but was a suggestion I found on the net as a sub for juniper berries.