Quinces are really plentiful in Istanbul right now. It is their time. I was waiting at the traffic lights the other day and saw an old man with a huge basket of them on his back just walking down the pavement. You see trucks full of them driving by!
I have to confess I have never made this in my life till a few days ago, despite it being the dessert of choice at this time of year for many Turks. Why is that, you may wonder? Purely because I knew that a lot of sugar was involved and that was enough to delay making this yummy dessert till now. Amazing, really. But I still had three lovely big quinces left after making the jam and we had dinner guests coming so I thought this was my big opportunity.
IngredientsAnd guess what, it was very successful, easy to make, and looked most appetising at the end of the long, gentle cooking. Again, just like the jam, no extra colouring was needed. The beautiful pinky red developed before my eyes as well as the exotic fragrance as the sugar and lemon caramelised around the fruit. Though I say it myself, it looked and tasted quite like the real thing! I will definitely be making this again!
Afiyet olsun!
If you can get hold of quinces, I think this is a great dessert to make for friends or family. There are many recipes out there for it but this is one of Angie Mitchell’s.
Not sure we get quinces here – looks yummy!
Harika görünüyor,ellerine sağlık canım.
Dear Claudia, Merhaba!
I am married to a Turkish man who also happens to be an outstanding cook. I too have become quite handy in the Turkish kitchen, in fact that is how I ensnared my husband! He said, "if you can make Lahmacun and Pide I will marry you!" In any case, I LOVE Ayva Tatlisi ( I don't have a Turkish keyboard) but Bulent never uses cloves. What kind of flavor do the cloves impart? Your blog is excellent! I'd love it if you'd visit mine too.
http://www.poppiesandpaperbacks.blogspot.com
http://www.labottinecouture.blogspot.com
Cheers,
Gwen
Dear Gwen, Cloves give a richer flavour and darker colour to the quince. I also add orange zest and cinnamon too. It's all a personal thing. But I highly recommend cloves.
Mustafa