Aussi délicate qu’une fleur – Gelée de coings

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I have been completely away from my computer and the internet world since I arrived in Nancy. The weird thing is that when I come home, I just disconnect completely from my computer and phone. I like the slow pace, relaxed energy and long walks in the nature with my mom and barely feel like turning on the computer. It’s been cold and freezing lately, the cold bites my skin and is quite invigorating but as long as the sky is blue I am happy. Yesterday, January 2nd the crazy country wide sales have started and the shops will remain exceptionally open on Sunday (in France on Sundays usually all stores are closed), the streets are packed with shoppers looking for the best deals.

My mom has been going crazy cooking for the holidays and to be honest, I have barely touched anything. The January 1st lunch was comprised of 12 course meal lunch going from traditional Escargots (snails) using her own recipe, to Foie gras roulé au pain d’Épices et figues (Foie gas rolled in spicy bread with figs), to Cannelloni with spinach and ricotta, and tons of other dishes. I am just wondering how much weight I’ll gain when I’ll get back to the US since my jeans are already starting to get a little tight. So the next week will be posts that she made, from her own recipes or old recipes she took from books here and there.

This is one of my favorite jams, to me quince preserve smells like a flower and is so addictive. My parents have many quince trees in their garden, and my moms makes a delicious quince preserve and paste. This region of France is quie famous for its quince trees. Every morning I spread it on brioche or pains au lait and I just feel like eating the most delicately perfumed flower. It’s deep orange-red color and perfume makes this preserve the sexiest of all. The literal translation of “Gélee” is “Jelly” and the juice of the fruit is used instead of the fruit itself. When making quince preserve, the leftover cooked fruit flesh is used to make a quince paste which is a delicious sweet treat.

For jams and preserves, the quantities of fruits is the same as quantity of sugar. In this case, quantity of sugar used is the same as quince juice. So I did not put exact quantities. For example, here the juice obtained after cooking the fruits is equal to quantities of sugar you will use. For this recipe my mom used less sugar so, for 2 lbs of juice obtained, she used 6 oz (170 gr) of sugar.

Ingredients for 2-3 jars

  • Quinces, washed, cut in quarters and unpeeled (just the stem needs to be removed)
  • Sugar
  • Water

Preparation

First wash quinces well to remove the little “hair” from its skin. Dry them. Remove the stem and cut them in quarters. Do not remove seeds since it’s the seed that make the jelly texture.

Place in a large pot and cover with water. You need enough water to just cover the fruits not more. Cook at high heat until it boils, then decrease heat and cook slowly.

When the fruits are cooked. Filter the mixture and keep the juice. Add sugar to the juice and bring back to boil slowly for about 15 minutes or until the preserve thickens. When the preserve has thicken, remove from heat and place in jars.

Let it cool and close jar with cover tightly.