Medium
4
By David Dale and Somer Sivrioglu
Published 2015
You could have eaten this dish 2000 years ago in Anatolia. The world’s first cherry growing and the world’s first quince growing happened there. Writings from 72 BC discuss how the military leader Lucullus brought a cultivated cherry to Rome from a part of the empire called Pontus in northeastern Anatolia. The Romans at the time were happy to combine it with their quinces stewed in honey.
The Ottoman chefs made a habit of stewing fruits with sugar syrup and combining them with kaymak. The secret here is to cook very slowly and include the skins and the cores of the quinces while simmering, to enhance the pink colouring the Ottomans loved.
Take the cherries out of the freezer about 1 hour before you want to serve the dish.
Peel the skin off the quinces and reserve the skin. Halve the peeled quinces, lengthways, and remove the hard cores. Reserve the cores.
Put the lemon juice and
Lay the quince skins, shiny side down, in the bottom of a wide saucepan. Place the cinnamon stick, cloves and cores on top. Put the quinces, cut side up, on top of the spices. Put 3 tablespoons of the sugar on each quince half. Pour
Mix
Place the quinces on a serving platter. Put two walnuts on top of each quince.
Add a dollop of kaymak or thick cream on top of each quince. Drizzle about
© 2015 All rights reserved. Published by Murdoch Books.