Explaining quince is not easy. Beyond it being a tree fruit, as is the apple, it is incomparable to anything. If cross-pollination went berserk between a pear, squash, Chinese gooseberry, cooking apple, apricot and a golden beetroot, the child might be a quince.
But that still does not explain its scent, which is exotic and extraordinary, or its texture: rock hard when raw and unusually soft and granular when cooked.
The skin, which has a flock-like fur on it just after picking, has a strong exotic aroma – but the flavour of the flesh is, well, incredibly hard to pin down.
A raw quince is greenish yellow, but its creamy-coloured inner flesh changes to a rusty red with heat. Cooked down to a purée with sugar and sieved, you have membrillo, a Spanish condiment to eat with cheese that is sweet with a striking tang.
A wine expert might describe the taste of quince as 'long’ because it lingers...
