18^th Century: Quince Tart

Quince was a favoured fruit from as early as we can know from contemporary cookery books. Recipes for quince tart and preserving quince are plenty. In fact, it appears there are more recipes using quince than any other fruit.

‘Chardequince’ and ‘Chardewarden’ were sweet fruit pastes made from quince or warden pears, thickened with eggs, that appear in medieval English cookery manuscripts. Little sweetmeats were imported from Portugal, Genoa, Spain and France and were known as ‘marma