Membrillo en Almíbar Oaxaqueño

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Wide heavy non-reactive pot (enameled cast iron or stainless steel), 6 to 8 quarts
• •Sharp paring knife and a heavy vegetable peeler
• •Cheesecloth and kitchen string
• •Slotted spoon
• •Glass or ceramic storage container with a lid

Instructions

1. 1

   Choose the fruit

   Buy quince that is yellow, firm, and heavy in the hand. The fruit should smell like a cross between an apple and a rose. If it still has the gray fuzz on the skin, even better. That fuzz is the sign it has not been over-handled. Quince ripens in October and November in the Sierra Norte de Oaxaca, and that is when this dish belongs on the stove. Out of season, do not bother. Cook what the mercado is selling today.

   Rub the fuzz off with a dry kitchen towel before peeling. Do not wash it off under water until the fuzz is gone. Wet fuzz turns to slime and is harder to remove.
2. 2

   Peel, core, and cut

   Quince is hard. This is not an apple. Use a heavy peeler and a sharp paring knife. Peel each fruit, then quarter it lengthwise. Cut out the core and the seeds. Save the peels and cores. Wrap them in a square of cheesecloth and tie it with kitchen string. The pectin in the peels and seeds is what gives the syrup its body and its rose color. Throw them out and you have flavored water.

3. 3

   Hold in acidulated water

   As you work, drop the cut quince into a bowl of cold water with the lime juice. Quince oxidizes and turns brown the moment it hits air. The acidulated water keeps the flesh pale until you are ready to cook it. Do not skip this. The color of the finished fruit depends on it.

4. 4

   Build the syrup

   In a wide heavy pot, large enough to hold the quince in two layers at most, combine the 10 cups of water, the piloncillo broken into chunks, the granulated sugar, the canela, the cloves, the star anise if using, and both citrus peels. Bring to a simmer over medium heat, stirring until the piloncillo dissolves completely. Piloncillo is the soul of this almíbar. Refined white sugar alone gives you a flat, one-note syrup. The piloncillo brings molasses, the deep brown of cane that has been cooked down in copper kettles in the mountains. La piloncillo es el sabor.

   If your piloncillo cone is rock-hard, hit it with the back of a heavy knife or grate it on a box grater. It will dissolve in minutes once it is broken up.
5. 5

   Add the quince

   Drain the quince and add it to the syrup along with the cheesecloth bundle of peels and cores. The fruit should be just submerged. If it is not, add a little more hot water until it is. Bring back to a bare simmer. Lazy bubbles only. A hard boil will break the fruit before it has time to take on color and the syrup will scorch on the bottom.

6. 6

   Poach slowly until rose-colored

   Cover partially and simmer for one hour and fifteen minutes to one hour and forty-five minutes. Do not rush this. Quince does not give up its color quickly. The flesh starts pale yellow, turns amber around the forty-minute mark, and slowly deepens into the rose-pink color the senoras at Mercado 20 de Noviembre will tell you is the only correct color for membrillo en almíbar. The fruit is ready when a knife slides through it without resistance and the flesh has turned a deep coral or rose. The transformation is the recipe. Pull it before it happens and you have undercooked quince. Asi se hace y punto.

   If the syrup reduces too quickly and threatens to expose the fruit, add a half cup of hot water. The fruit must stay submerged for the color to develop evenly.
7. 7

   Reduce the syrup

   Lift the quince out gently with a slotted spoon and arrange it in a clean glass or ceramic bowl. Remove the cheesecloth bundle and squeeze it firmly over the pot to extract the pectin-rich juice. Discard the bundle. Raise the heat under the syrup to medium-high and reduce until it coats the back of a spoon and the surface looks glossy, about 10 to 15 minutes. The syrup should be thick enough that a drop holds its shape on a cold plate. Pour the hot syrup over the quince. The cinnamon and cloves go in the bowl with it.

8. 8

   Rest and serve

   Let the membrillo cool to room temperature, then cover and refrigerate overnight. This is not optional. The fruit needs the long rest to absorb the syrup and finish developing color and depth. Eat it cold or at room temperature, with a thick slice of queso fresco from Etla and, if you have it, a slice of pan de yema from any Oaxacan panaderia. Recetas probadas y garantizadas.

Chef Tips

• •Piloncillo is the soul of this dish. Find it at any Mexican market. Dark muscovado is a compromise, not an upgrade. Brown sugar is not a substitute. Brown sugar is white sugar with a teaspoon of molasses stirred back in. That is not the same thing.
• •Use canela, the soft true cinnamon. The hard cassia bark sold in most US supermarkets has a sharper, more aggressive flavor and will overwhelm the quince. If your cinnamon stick is hard and dark brown, it is cassia. Real canela is light tan, soft, and crumbles when you press it.
• •Membrillo en almíbar gets better in the refrigerator over three or four days. Make it on a Wednesday for Sunday lunch. The syrup thickens, the fruit absorbs more flavor, and the color deepens.
• •If your quince refuses to turn rose-colored after two hours, your fruit was probably cross-bred or hybrid. True criollo quince, the fruit Senora Felicitas used, contains the tannins that develop the color. Hybrid quince stays yellow no matter how long you cook it. Find a different vendor next time.

Advance Preparation

• •Membrillo en almíbar must rest overnight in the refrigerator before serving. The flavor is shy on day one and right on day two.
• •Stored in a clean glass jar with the syrup covering the fruit, it keeps refrigerated for three weeks. The flavor only deepens over the first week.
• •For longer storage, ladle hot fruit and syrup into sterilized jars and process in a boiling water bath for 15 minutes. Properly canned, it lasts a year and is the kind of thing every Oaxacan abuela has on her shelf in December.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 155g)