Quince, 19th of December 2015.

Watercolors. 18 cm x 14 cm.

Quince (above; >> click on the image to show it in full) was painted in mid-October this year. The leaves were already completely crumpled and brown, they became a small fragile clump of matter which turned into dust even when only gently touched.

I eat quinces exclusively in kompots. Quince >> kompot. I also remember, from my childhood days, slatko od dunja with walnuts (I am not sure how to translate this to English - slatko is an extremely sweet, viscous fluid made of sugar and fruit, often with whole pieces of fruit in it; it is thus eaten in small quantities and enjoyed with water). Only from the stories of my father I know of kitnkez (from German Quittenkäse) or >> quince cheese. In Spanish-speaking territories this dessert is known as >> dulce de membrillo and French call it >> pâte de coing. Something similar is made all over the world, e.g. in Hungary and even in Pakistan. Quince cheese is obtained by long cooking of quinces and sugar until the mixture assumes a gelatinous consistency. Internet sources say that Sephardi Jews consider the dessert to be a part of their tradition, although it's probable that something similar existed already in the Roman period, in 4th century.

Still, we love quinces mostly for their fragrance. When they are as they should be. The fragrance marks the end of autumn and announces winter.

The illustration of quince shown above is from the book >> Medizinal Pflanzen by Franz Eugen Köhler, from 1887. 300 illustrations for the book were made by Walther Müller, C.F. Schmidt i K. Gunther, and the one above was made by Müller. A large number of excellent illustrations from the book can be found on the pages of >> Wikimedia Commons.

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Happy New Year 2016 >>

Last updated on 19th of December 2015.