November 19, 2015

Quince Paste with Manchego Cheese, a light appetizer, or dessert

Natacha Sanz Caballero Tapas, Desserts and Sweets dulce de membrillo, membrillo, quince, quince paste, quince paste with manchego cheese

I didn’t think I would be including the recipe for quince paste this early in the life of Mama Ía blog. Don’t get me wrong, I love quince paste, but I understand it might not be a dish my American friends would eat often, as it is the case in Spain. Quince paste is very popular in Spain, and it’s usually eaten with cured manchego cheese, or with fresh white cheese, or with walnuts, as a light snack or tapa, or as a dessert. Quince, a fruit that, to me, looks like a mix between a pear and an apple can’t, unlike pears and apples, be eaten raw. Well, I guess you could try, but quince is tart and a bit sour, and hard, which makes it more suitable for cooking and baking, and for preserves.

A series of coincidences happened that led to this post today. One of them is that, for the first time in all the years I’ve lived in America, I saw quince paste sold at my local supermarket. It was packaged in very small tins (and at a considerable price), and labeled as Product from Spain. A small pile of these tins lay next to a few other products from my country, like Marcona almonds and tortas de Inés Rosales. The whole display made me smile, as it was a little piece of Spain, and of familiar flavors, in front of my eyes. I bring Marcona almonds from Spain every time I visit, and if you’ve tasted them, you’ll understand why. I use regular almonds for my cooking and baking, but to snack on, I’ll almost exclusively eat marcona. As for the tortas de Inés Rosales (olive oil sweet cakes is how I think they were translated to in the package) is one of the flavors of my childhood. These very thin flaky sweet tortas, in the shape of a tortilla sprinkled with sugar, are each handmade in Sevilla, where my mom is from, and there was always a package of them at home to snack on. My dad, in particular, was a big fan.

It just so happened that I was attending a party the next day, where guests were asked to bring an appetizer or a dessert. Upon seeing the quince paste tins, I immediately thought of bringing that delicious tapa, queso manchego con membrillo, quince paste with manchego cheese, to the party. The idea lasted less than two minutes, enough time for me to realise that I should bring something homemade -after all, I write this blog and spend a lot of time in the kitchen, my friends would be expecting more. But the thought of queso manchego con membrillo, manchego cheese with quince paste, stayed with me. I ended up bringing a different kind of cheese snack to the party, goat cheese torta with dried cherries and caramelized pecans, which you can find on this blog.

But a few days after the party, something else happened: quince fruit was on display at the same supermarket! If they had brought quince fruit before, I had never seen it. I didn’t hesitate. I picked one pound of the fruit and took it home to let it ripen for a few days. Maybe a bit more than a few days. I kept looking at the fruit, and in a way, I was a bit afraid to make it. The recipe is simple, don’t get me wrong, although some might say it’s somewhat labor intensive. That wasn’t the reason for my reluctance. You see, if there was somebody in our family that loved quince paste with manchego cheese, that was my dad. And he’s no longer with us. We’ve been missing him for five years. I sometimes still find it hard to believe that he’s gone, as he is still very present in my life, and in my mom’s and my sister’s lives. We miss his presence, his wisdom and his love for his family. I think of him when I face a choice, wondering what he would do, the honest and wise man. His life wasn’t extremely long, 75 years, but he left an imprint that will not be faded.

In honor of my dad, I made quince paste, and I ate it with delight, imagining him smiling down on me.

QUINCE PASTE

Carne de Membrillo

The proportions are 60/40 (60% whole quince, 40% sugar). The ingredients below reflect these proportions, and they will yield about 1 1/2 cups quince paste, or a 5”x5” dish. Make the proportional adjustments to obtain more or less quince paste, always observing the 60/40 proportion.

Ingredients:

1 pound quince fruit

10 ounzes sugar

 

In a stockpot, cover the quince with water and bring to a boil. The quince has to be whole, and without peeling. Decrease the heat to medium and continue cooking for about 40 minutes, or until the quince is soft when pierced with a fork. Remove the quince from the water with a spoon and let cool.

When the quince has cooled down, cut them in half and remove the core, the stem, and all the hard parts around the core. Do not peel, though. Quarter the quince and pass it through a food mill held over a saucepan. Most of the peels will stay in the food mill.

Pour the sugar over the quince pulp and stir to mix. Place the saucepan over high heat and boil, stirring continously. Lower the heat to medium and continue to stir with a wooden spoon for about 40 minutes. The paste will turn from a light golden color to golden brown, and become sticky and slightly harder to stir.

Remove from the heat and transfer the paste to a mold (a 5 by 5 inch square dish, or any container of similar size). Cover and refrigerate.

To serve, unmold over a serving plate or cheese platter and slice into pieces. Accompany with manchego cheese, or other hard cured or fresh cheese, as a light appetizer or tapa.