Mediterranean Cooking from the Garden with Linda Dalal Sawaya—Fall is time for quince preserves!

posted on: Oct 21, 2015

my neighbor’s quince (al sfarjel)! © linda dalal sawaya 2015

Al sfarjel in Arabic is the name of a lovely fall fruit known as quince in English and membrillo in Spanish. Quince, like the apple, is a member of the rose family. Similar to an apple in appearance, but larger, and yellow when ripe, quince is not a fruit you can just bite into like an apple—it is very tart and mouth-puckering because of its high pectin content, making it excellent in preserves. Quince are native to Southwest Asia where the trees thrive and are cherished for their fall bounty.

My beloved mother, Alice, made quince jam as I was growing up, and we did not have a quince tree in our Los Angeles garden; but of course, they grow happily in Lebanon, where she grew up. Somehow she found quince to make us her Lebanese style sfarjel ma’qoud or quince preserves. My quince have typically come from my neighbor’s prolific tree, which I rescue before they put them in the compost bin since they don’t seem to have a use for them. Haram! I have been known to collect large grocery bags full of quince from their tree and share with my Arab friends, as we all love and appreciate it.

This past weekend as an artist, I participated in Portland Open Studios where 100 juried artists opened our art studios to the public. A lovely Palestinian friend, who is an amazing folk artist and teacher herself, Feryal Abbassi-Ghnaim, blessed me with a visit along with her sweet husband. She came in Arab tradition, bearing a luscious and colorful basket full of her homegrown fruits, including sfarjel, apples, and even her own homemade quince preserves! Mashallah! Feeling so blessed with her visit, friendship and Arab generosity.

Feryal’s lovely quince fruit basket gift! © linda dalal sawaya 2015

Feryal’s Palestinian style sfarjel preserves! © linda dalal sawaya 2015

They took home fig tree starts from two of my fig trees for their garden across town. And now I am grateful to have some quince to make this year’s jam with, as I’d been so busy preparing my art studio for the tour that I forgot to ask my neighbors about theirs.

Feryal’s sfajel was made by cutting into a dice, while my beloved mama made hers by cutting the quince into thin shoestring pieces. She boiled the peel and the cores in water to make a rich pectin syrup for the jam. Mama also added miski at the last minute with the lemon juice. The full recipe for this is in Alice’s Kitchen: Traditional Lebanese Cooking on page 214.

Alice’s Kitchen traditional Lebanese quince jam! © linda dalal sawaya 2015

mama’s way of cutting quince for jam © linda dalal sawaya 2015

quince peels and core ready to boil for syrup © linda dalal sawaya 2015

The Spanish recipe for membrillo is a puréed and dried paste that is sublime served with a sheep milk manchego Spanish cheese. It is simple to make as I did by steaming the fruit with sugar and a bit of lemon juice, putting it into the food processor to purée, spreading the purée into an even thickness to dry out in a low temperature oven and or a food dehydrator.

membrillo quince paste ready to dry © linda dalal sawaya 2015

membrillo preserves after drying for winter use © linda dalal sawaya 2015

If you can find some quince this fall season, the jam/preserves make fabulous accompaniment to holiday meals, breakfasts, and along with cheeses. I have even used dollops of jam in savory winter soups as a sweet garnish. Sahtein and happy cooking!