One of the nicest Christmas gifts I've received was a plate of homemade membrillo and (purchased) Manchego cheese. In the words of Rachael Ray, “Yum-o!” If you have never heard of membrillo, it is quince paste or quince jelly made by very slowly cooking the fruit together with sugar, lemon and vanilla until it forms a paste. Membrillo is the Spanish word for quince, a tree that has been around for millennia.

I had forgotten about this gift, until a few weeks ago when I was walking the Centennial Park bike path and passed two teachers on a school holiday checking out a tree near the path. They thought the ripe-looking, kind of lumpy, lightly fuzzy, golden-colored fruit on the tree was pear. It's a good thing they didn't try to eat it raw; it is tough, acidic and astringent. Some in the Iberian Peninsula and Asia where the tree is more commonly grown have developed a taste for it in its raw state. I wonder who figured out to cook it to make it not only edible but delicious. Maybe it was the floral aroma that originally drew that first chef in. One quince can make a whole room smell sweet.

The fruit. photos by Michelle Davis

The quince tree (Cydonia oblonga) is in the rose family along with apples and pears, but is the only member in the Cydonia group. The fruit is tough to cut, and the cut flesh is the color of an apple or pear. Once cooked down to a gelatin, the flesh turns a deep pink to ruby red.

Quince is a fall fruit, but commercially-grown fruit in the Southern Hemisphere can be found in US grocery stores in the spring. Trees can be grown in our area. They grow slowly and do eventually spread to the same width as height of the tree. They can be pruned to control the spread. They like loamy soil that drains well, but will still thrive in our local clay and once established, can tolerate some drought conditions.  Now is the time to plant - late fall to early spring. They are self-fertile, but like most self-fertile trees, will produce more with another of the same. Dwarf varieties can be grown in large containers (at least 18 inches wide and deep). All varieties like wind-sheltered locations in full sun. Fruit arrives in around 5-6 years but doesn't ripen on the tree. Wait until the fruit is fragrant and pick before the first frost. They do continue to ripen after picking. Just as with apples, keep an eye out for codling moths and trap as needed. Also, just as with apples and pears, copper sprays can be used for fire blight. Some varieties are more fire blight-resistant.

A quick internet search produced at least 20 varieties available to US gardeners. The dwarf trees usually range from 8 to 12 feet, and the standard trees up to about 26 feet. All trees have pale pink to white flowers in the spring.

So, what about those flowering quince shrubs that have beautiful red flowers in the spring? Those thorny plants are also from the Rosaceae family, but are Chaenomeles species and they don't produce anything edible, nothing like the Spanish tapa of membrillo and Manchego. My mouth waters just thinking about it!

Quince flowers.