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Preserved Quinces

A method of preserving quinces in sugar syrup with brandy.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 4 ingredients
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Why it works: Quince and brandy work together. They rank in the top 14% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 91 recipes. Both carry ethyl cinnamate, which smells sweet, balsamic. The science ↓

Preserved Quinces

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the quinces

  1. Wipe, peel, quarter, and remove the core from the quinces.

  2. Weigh the fruit and measure out an equal amount of sugar.

  3. Soak the quinces in cold water, then drain.

Poach the quinces

  1. Place the quinces in a preserving kettle, cover with cold water, and cook over low heat until tender.

  2. Remove the quinces and place them on a platter until all are cooked.

Make the syrup

  1. Strain the cooking water, add the sugar, and cook gently for 10 minutes, skimming until clear.

  2. Add as many quinces as the syrup will cover and simmer until the fruit turns a rich red.

Jar and store

  1. Using a spoon, transfer the quinces into hot glass jars.

  2. Cook the syrup longer until very thick, then pour it over the quinces, filling the jars almost to the top.

  3. Add 1 teaspoon of brandy, seal the jars, and store in a cool, dry place.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Quince + brandytop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together91 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).

  2. Sugar + brandytop 19% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together11,939 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

  3. Quince + sugartop 21% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,444 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-penten-3-one (fish, pungent).

Sugar and brandy barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 11,939 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Quinces
Provide the main fruit, which softens and turns red as it cooks in the syrup.
Sugar
Sweetens the fruit and, when cooked into thick syrup, preserves it by drawing out water.

The step that matters

Skimming the syrup until clear. Skimming removes foam and impurities that would otherwise cloud the syrup and can spoil the appearance of the preserve. Gentle cooking keeps the syrup clear and prevents sugar from scorching.

Swap the quince

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, brandy):

  1. Vanillafits better
  2. Apricotfits better
  3. Raisinfits better
  4. Quincethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, brandy. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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