Quinces, raw

Quince is rarely eaten straight off the tree, its raw flesh is hard, tart, and astringent, but cooking transforms it, releasing a rosy color and a honeyed, floral flavor close to a cross between apple and pear. Sliced and simmered slowly in sugar syrup with cinnamon and lemon, it becomes a poached fruit for tarts or a topping for yogurt; long, slow cooking down with sugar produces membrillo, the firm quince paste served alongside cheese in Spanish and Latin American kitchens. Quince also works diced into apple or pear pie for extra perfume, or baked whole and stuffed with nuts and dried fruit as a fall dessert.

Look for quinces that are firm, yellow rather than green, and give off a strong floral fragrance, a ripe quince smells sweet even before it is cut; a few left in a bowl will scent an entire kitchen. Store them at room temperature for a few days to finish ripening, or refrigerate for longer keeping, and always cook before eating since the raw fruit is too hard and tannic to enjoy plain. One fruit without refuse (92 g) has just 57 calories, 1.9 g of fiber, and 4 mg of sodium, so it fits easily into a low-calorie fruit dessert or compote built mostly from spice and slow cooking rather than added fat.