SYRUPED QUINCE WITH CREAM

The quince has a seductive history. Ancient Greek gourmets knew them as apples of Cydonia – after the superior variety they developed from Kydonia in Crete – witness the “golden apple” (almost certainly a quince) Paris presented to Aphrodite, the goddess of love, that led to the downfall of Troy.

SYRUPED QUINCE WITH CREAM (Kremalı Ayva Tatlısı)
Three quinces are cut into four pieces and each boiled in half a litre of boiling water and taken out with a strainer. Sufficient sugar is added to the same water and a little of a lemonis juice is squeezed into it. Quinces are thrown back into the water again together with their seeds packed into a small square of cheesecloth. When cooked to a reasonable softness, they are transferred into a service plate and cream is put into their seedbeds.