Quince

With its yellow, waxy skin and faint grey down, the large, knobbly, slightly pear-shaped quince is one of our most delightful and rewarding fruits. It is worth having just for its scent alone. One or two in a fruit bowl will perfume the room with a sweet autumnal fragrance. No wonder our grandmothers used quince to scent the linen cupboard.

I do not have access to quince trees so I buy them from my local greengrocer, who gets them from Cyprus or Turkey. They are expensive, and to make a little go a long way, I slice a few into an apple pie for extra depth of flavour. I keep some to cut up and put inside a chicken or guinea fowl while it is roasting.