Pickled Quince
Pickled Quince Two good friends of mine, Ros and Gary, gave me some quinces recently which I have never prepared before although but I have often had quince jelly (known as Membrillo in Spain) which goes particularly well with hard cheese, especially a nice mature Manchego. I have to say that Ros's quince jelly is as good as any I have tried in Spain. Knowing I couldn't improve on that that I decided to try pickling them instead, something which I have done quite a lot of recently as it is a great way of preserving food and adds an interesting accompaniment to dishes. The first thing to do is to prepare your pickling liquid. In a saucepan pour in some apple cider vinegar, wine vinegar or half and half (allow approximately 3 cups of vinegar per pound of fruit). Add two teaspoons of pink or black pepper corns, a tablespoon of juniper berries and two bay leaves. Bring this to the boil, reduce heat and simmer for a few minutes to infuse the flavours. Take off the heat...