March Recipe - Poached Quinces

I'm not sure about you - but we're fortunate to live in a region that has definite seasons. The Summers are hot, long and dry (usually), the Winters are long, long, long, bleak and coooooooold So why would anyone live here? Because we have the most incredible Springs and Autumns.

One of the best parts of Autumn ( beside perfect gardening weather) is the abundance of seasonal fruit and veg. We have been blackberrying, pickling, preserving - and we have been gifted with boxes of nashis, plums, apples, cucumbers (no one ever has an excess of ripe tomatoes around here - plenty of green ones though) We have a small orchard and a single quince tree - this year our small quinces just dropped - I suspect not enough water. We are lucky to have a generous friend (who is also a magnificently dedicated gardner) who was happy to share her bountiful quince crop with us (rather than the huge flocks of ravenous cockatoos)

As part of our Easter Product range we have always made a beautiful tart of poached quinces with a walnut frangipane. The tart is just delicious (and you can find a pdf recipe here) but the magic is in the poaching of the quinces. 

We poach small batches like this regularly throughout the season - and our kids eat them with yoghurt or on their porridge. Once they're poached you can also preserve them to keep them for longer. If you can find some - a bowl of quinces looks so beautiful - and as they ripen they will perfume your room with an exotic scent. 

Here's a short video of how Damian prepares and poaches quinces here at the Piper St Food Co

Hopefully - like us - you have a friend with a quince tree and a few spare hours over the Easter weekend to try this method of poaching quinces.