Quinces

Quinces, which have been grown at the Cape for over 350 years, are back in season again.

They were planted and mentioned in his diary by Jan van Riebeek’ s gardeners in the Company Gardens in Cape Town shortly after the settlement at the Cape by the Dutch to create a fuelling station for their ships sailing to Batavia.

Quinces were popular right up to the turn of the 20th Century but with the urbanization of rural peoples they have become less and less known.

However there is hardly a farm which does not have its quince and pomegranate or cape gooseberry hedges – all of which have been at the Cape since the early Dutch settlement.  Quinces are a most nostalgic fruit for me as we ate them each year as they came into season.  They were also turned into jelly which cooked slowly on the Aga stove in our kitchen producing a ruby red clear jelly which we ate with roast leg of lamb instead of the ubiquitous mint sauce.

Quinces look a bit like large fluffy knobbly yellow-skinned apples and are firm fleshed.  The core and the area around it is particularly hard.  There is a variety which Leipoldt called the borrie quince which was more yellow fleshed than the better known white fleshed quince and he suggested they were better for a bredie.

When cooked – they can be poached in a sugar syrup or baked in the oven – the quince turns a most beautiful ruby pink colour.

Quinces are never eaten raw except in a sambal usually served with tripe by the Malay peoples of the Cape.  The quince was peeled and grated and mixed with grated onion, lemon juice, salt and chopped chili.

As children, we used to take quinces to our beach house and take them into the sea, wash the fuzz off them and eat them dipping them into the sea water.

Leipoldt also talks of a quince bredie, though his recipe is quaintly very basic and gives little direction in terms of quantities and in my opinion the ratio of quince to lamb is too high.

Here is my version:

You’ll need: 3 kg lamb knuckles, flour [seasoned with sea salt, freshly ground black pepper, sweet smoked paprika, ground ginger, pinch ground cloves], extra virgin olive oil [Morgenster or Vesuvio are my favourites], 3 onions – finely chopped, 3 fat cloves of fresh garlic – finely chopped, 2 large carrots, – diced, 2 sticks celery – diced, 3 bird’s eye chilis – finely chopped [leave out seeds and membranes if you want a milder taste], 3 large quinces [peeled and cut into eighths, seeded and cored and kept in acidulated water to prevent oxidation], 250ml fruity dry red wine, 100ml brandy, generous sprig thyme, 4 bay leaves, 4 blades mace, 2 Tbs tomato paste, 1 litre beef stock, sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Method: Season the lamb knuckles well with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.  Dip them into the seasoned flour and slow fry them in a little oil a large pan over medium heat until they are well browned on the outside.  Do not do them all at once otherwise the meat will stew rather than brown; rather do them in three batches.  When done, transfer them to an oven proof casserole.  Wipe out the pan and pour in a little oil, slow fry the onion and garlic in a little oil until it is just starting to colour, add the carrot celery and chilis and cook together for a short while. Pour in the red wine and cook over low heat until the wine is almost completely reduced.  Heat the brandy, ignite it and pour it over the lamb shaking until the flames die out.  Place the quinces on top of the lamb. Tuck in the thyme, bay leaves and mace.  Mix the tomato paste with the beef stock and pour over the mixture.  Cook in a 180C oven for two hours.  Remove form the oven and season for taste.  Good thing to leave it overnight at this point for the flavours to mature.  If you are not able to, cook for a further 30 minutes or until the meat is tender.

If you are able to keep it overnight, next day remove any of the solidified fat which has risen to the top, add a little more stock if necessary and reheat gently for about 30 minutes, stir the quinces through the meat.

Serve with plain steamed Basmati rice.  Basmati rice was the chosen rice of the Malay peoples of the Cape, according to Cass Abrahams.

A good fruity rustic red wine would do well with this.

Serves 8.