Kydonopasto - Quince Paste

Quinces were used in Greece for ages and in both savoury and sweet recipes. Almost everywhere in Greece there are traditional dishes with the quince as the main or supporting ingredient. A classic one of course is the spoon sweet with quinces which soon I will post in the blog. But you will find them stuffed with savoury or sweet fillings cooked in the oven or the pot. Some of these recipes arrived to Greece with the Greeks of Asia Minor, others were there since... forever! The quince is rather a deceitful fruit, it can be attractive in appearance but when you have a bite out of it you feel you have been poisoned! It is very hard and sour in taste. It is one of the few fruits that you can not eat raw. And since there were a lot of quinces around Greece, people had to find ways of using it and making it edible. Hence all these delicious sweet and savoury dishes with it involved. Lets go back to our recipe which is called "Kydonopasto" in Greek. This is a delicious sweet snack from Argostoli, in Kefalonia Island, and it is a very old recipe

Ingredients (for 8-10 people):
500gr. sugar
1 lemon, the juice
1Kg of quinces
250gr. of honey
100gr. of roast almonds, finely chopped (no skin on)
1 tsp of cinnamon, powder
½ tsp of cloves, powder
blanched almonds in slivers

Method:
Wash the quinces and cut them in quarters. Put them as they are in an oven pan and bake them for 40 minutes at 180°C. Alternatively you could steam them for 20-30 minutes.

Let them cool down a bit and then peel them and core them. Mash them into a pulp in a large bowl.

In a large pot heat the sugar, the honey and the lemon juice on medium heat adding about 1/2 cup of water, and stirring constantly, until the sugar and the honey are dissolved. Bring to the boil and simmer for a few minutes to thicken the syrup.

Add in the pot the mashed quinces, the spices and the chopped almonds. Turn the heat to low and cook, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until the paste thickens and doesn't stick on the bottom and the sides of the pan.

Take off the heat and let the quince paste to cool down a bit. Then turn it into a wide, shallow tray and spread it out evenly. Sprinkle on top with the almond slivers. Loosely cover with some baking paper or foil and leave it to dry for a few days.

Cut the quince paste into squares or triangles and enjoy it with your coffee.