Quince Poached in Pomegranate Juice

My introduction to quince started with the quince and stilton quiche in Yotam Ottolenghi’s Plenty More. That was a stunner of a quiche that’s impossible to forget — and I don’t. Hence my fascination with quince from that moment on. So, when I see fresh quinces for the first time in the market, I have to get one and cook with it. The quince poached in pomegranate juice recipe in Plenty More comes in handy.

Turning the pages in Plenty More helps recalling the many new ingredients I’ve neither heard nor worked with until recently. Ingredients such as: black garlic, halva, harissa, kaffir lime, nigella seeds, verjus…. Surely, this is not a complete list of unfamiliar ingredients I’ve encountered in the book. Remarkably, new ingredients expand our pathways to food and culture in a less-familiar realm. As such, my curiosity grows. Would I ever run out of new objects to chase? I doubt it!

The good news is: globalization has brought interests and more varieties of food to our shores. Novel food items seem to be showing up everywhere.

The quince I bought looks like a cross between an apple and a pear, except much tougher in texture. The recipe calls for cutting the quince in quarters, after peeling it. Removing the cores from the quarters takes a bit of strength. So take out your sharpest knife and be careful.

The quince pieces are poached in pomegranate juice, with sugar, vanilla bean, star anise, orange rind and juice. That takes about 20 minutes. Then remove the quince and reduce the juice to syrup consistency.

Yotam Ottolenghi recommends serving the quince quarters with clotted cream and pomegranate seeds. I couldn’t find pomegranates in the local stores. In the end, I omit the seeds and serve the quince with ricotta and fresh leaves of mint.

The taste is delightful. My head keeps spinning in an effort to wrap it around something familiar to compare the quince with. Oddly, I can’t find any. Nonetheless, I enjoy my unique fruit dessert.

This recipe is also good for poaching apples or pears. The deep red pomegranate juice turns fruits into something festive and eye catching — perfect for special occasions.

Print Recipe

Quince Poached in Pomegranate Juice

Serves: 4

Ingredients

2 large quinces, peeled and quartered
800ml pomegranate juice
70g caster sugar
1 vanilla pod, cut in half lengthways and seeds scraped out
The shaved peel of 1 large orange, plus 50ml juice
2 whole star anise
65g pomegranate seeds
120g clotted cream
2 tsp fresh mint leaves (optional)

Instructions

Core the eight quince quarters. Discard four cores and tie the others into a bundle with an old tea towel or muslin. Put the cored quince quarters into a heavy-based pan and add the wrapped-up cores, pomegranate juice, sugar, vanilla pod and seeds, orange peel and juice, and star anise. Bring to a boil, turn down to a gentle simmer, cover and cook for 15-25 minutes, until the quince is soft.

Remove the quince quarters with a slotted spoon and set aside. Simmer the sauce for 20 minutes or so, until it's thick, syrupy and reduced to about 75ml. Just before serving, squeeze all the thick juices out of the core bundle into the sauce, then discard along with the orange peel, star anise and vanilla. Return the quince to the syrup and gently warm through. Place two quarters of quince on each plate, pour over some syrup and serve with clotted cream and a sprinkle of pomegranate seeds and shredded mint (if using).