Backyard Quince, or Respect For Your Elders

dusty-quince

The bright, juicy, show-stopping fruits of summer are gone.  Nectarines, strawberries, and pluots- all feats of human farm science- have exhausted themselves serving us….and we are finally at late harvest season, my favorite time of year.

The late harvest season shows remarkably well in Sonoma County; the fruits that grow so well there harmonize with the muted tones, the smell of dried hay, the quick onset of spooky, misty nights, and the old world pastoral feel of the landscape.  After the sexy, young, luscious fruits of summer I welcome the simple, humble, comforting antique fruit we get from our friends Tony and Susan from Terra Sonoma.  The dry-farmed Bartlett pears from Tony and Susan’s 100-year-old tree might be my favorite fruit of the year, and I love the French prunes from an equally venerable tree in their back yard.

quince-in-pot-vertical

Our dessert menu currently features another backyard treasure: quince from a Sonoma neighbor’s tree.  The mother of old world fruits, quince are thought to have been the fabled Golden Apples of Greek mythology.  And talk about humble- quince are lumpy, fuzzy, starchy cousins of the apple- inedible raw when grown in this climate.   Carefully and slowly cooked, however, the starches in quince convert to sugars and the off-white flesh turns a lovely warm rose color, the floral, vanilla-accented, sensual perfume of the fruit filling the room. We are serving Sonoma backyard quince and orange blossom-honey cream meringata on the menu tonight and will continue to use them as long as the season lasts.

-Jenny

quince-merigata

2 Responses to “Backyard Quince, or Respect For Your Elders”


  1. Lorrie

    Hi, Jenny! I got goosebumps when I saw these photos on the Oliveto flickr page – I miss quince! I was able to find a few lonely pieces at one grocery store here in Oklahoma last season, but had some trouble finding anyone to share my enthusiasm about my find. Oh well!

    I hope all is well in pastry land – hopefully I will see you soon!
    Best,
    Lorrie

  2. A Rockridge Life

    What a dessert! Beautiful

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