Tagine de Poulet au Coing

When the first quinces show up in autumn, hard and gold, don't ask them to behave like apples. A quince is stubborn at first. It asks for the knife, then the simmer, then the honey only when the flesh has softened enough to listen.

This tagine belongs to the Fassi sweet-savory table, chicken braised with saffron, ginger, and onion until the sauce turns amber, then the fruit glazed beside it with cinnamon and honey. The why is this: honey goes in late. If you add it while the quince is still hard, the sugar tightens the fruit and scorches at the bottom before tenderness arrives.

Bring it to the table in the dish you cooked it in if you can. This is la cuisine du lien (the cooking of connection) in autumn clothes: khobz torn, sauce passed, one more piece than you counted. Une table, c'est une porte qu'on laisse ouverte, a table is a door you leave open.