Graceful, melancholy, autumnal. Quince jelly is prepared from September to the end of November . This little treasure is very old and the recipe unchanged until today. See thus, in the French Confiturier by Jean Goulin (1664) "where is taught the way of making all kinds of jams, sugared almonds, liqueurs, & pleasant beverages" , the author asks to cut "the quinces into pieces and make them boil well in water, pass them through a cloth and press them well, take the decoction that comes out and put a pound of sugar in a pint, cook it over a low heat and keep it covered, when it will be cooked, pull it out and set it up . With a few spelling and syntax variations, here we are. Goodbye of course pint and book.

Quince jelly goes with... everything

But what to do with this quince jelly? But all ! She has been healing since Gallienus and has been paired with many dishes since Rabelais (and even before). It enhances hot or cold meats , sharpens cheeses, spices desserts or adds sugar to lascivious butter placed with the back of the knife on a morning toast.

Let's not forget the cotignac

However, it is impossible to mention the easy quince jelly without mentioning the famous cotignac. Clear or thick, it is a thicker jelly that we know well in Orléans which produces a famous one. Here quinces and sugar cook together and are then filtered. In Jean Goulin's recipe, cochineal is used to obtain a redder color. But cotignac does not stop at this particularity. The cotignac is poured hot into spruce or fir boxes . An apothecary's sweetness and a confectioner's marvel, cotignac is a survival of sweets from the Middle Ages and antiquity. If in French recipes wine dominated with honey, the Venetians preferred lemon.

Recipes always vary and are sometimes the same. What could be the common point between this now famous Orléans specialty and Bernard Louis' Louis d'Or? The boxes of these very distant specialties... both come from the same Jura artisans and the same forests.

Now, get to work! Here is the recipe for quince jelly that we offer you.

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Ingredients

• 1.5 kg of ripe quince
• 3 cloves
• 4 juniper berries
• Caster sugar
• Lemon juice

Preparation and cooking

It will take you about twenty minutes to prepare this jelly. Allow 12 hours of rest and 1 hour of cooking.

1. The day before, brush the quinces. Cut the quinces into quarters without removing the skin or seeds . Distribute them in the pan then pour in water and the spices. Bring to the boil and simmer for 45 minutes until the fruit is very soft.
2. If you have it, use gauze. Otherwise take a white cloth and scald it. Drain it and put it in a strainer placed over a large salad bowl. Carefully pour in the softened quince pulp and let everything drain for at least 12 hours.
3. At night, the next day, boil water and scald the pots that will be used for the jelly. Then throw the remaining pulp into the cloth. Then measure the quantity of quince juice and pour everything into a jam basin, adding 350g of sugar and 1 tablespoon of lemon juice for 500ml.
4. Mix everything and heat it over low heat to obtain a smooth syrup. Then bring to the boil and keep boiling for 10 minutes, without stirring. Remove impurities with a skimmer.
5. Fill the jars and close them. Turn them over for 24 hours. Wait at least a few days before consuming your jelly.

How long can I keep this quince jelly?

Quince jelly can be kept for two to three years in good storage conditions.

The book

The mentioned work by Jean Goulin was republished in 2019 by Hachette Livre and the BNF.

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