Quince Facts for Kids

The quince is a fruit that grows on small trees. It belongs to the same plant family as apples and pears. When it's young, a quince is green. As it ripens, it turns a bright golden yellow and often looks a bit like a bumpy lemon.

Most quince fruits are too hard to eat raw. You usually need to cook them to make them soft. Sometimes, people even let them rot a little on purpose, or if they get damaged by frost, it helps them soften up. Quinces are often used to make tasty jelly and jam. When raw, the inside of a quince is white. But after it's cooked, it turns a pretty pinkish orange color, which is why quince jelly and jam have that lovely hue.

Quick facts for kids Quince

Cydonia oblonga
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Division:	Magnoliophyta
Class:	Magnoliopsida
Order:	Rosales
Family:	Rosaceae
Subfamily:	Maloideae
Genus:	Cydonia
Species:	C. oblonga
Binomial name
*Cydonia oblonga* Mill.

Where Quince Trees Grow
- How People Use Quince
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Where Quince Trees Grow

Commercially grown quince

Quince foliage and ripening fruit

Quince flowers

Quince trees originally came from rocky hills and forest edges in Western Asia. This includes places like Armenia, Turkey, Georgia, northern Iran, and Afghanistan. However, quince trees can grow well in many different climates. They can even be grown successfully as far north as Scotland!

It's important not to confuse the quince with some of its relatives. These include the Chinese quince (Pseudocydonia sinensis) or the flowering quinces from the Chaenomeles group. People sometimes use these other types in cooking, but they are not the same as the common quince.

How People Use Quince

Some special types of quince, like 'Aromatnaya' and 'Kuganskaya', can be eaten raw without cooking. But most kinds of quince are too hard, bitter, and sour to eat fresh. They usually need to be "bletted," which means softened by frost or a little bit of decay.

Quinces have a lot of pectin, which is a natural gelling agent. This makes them perfect for making jam, jelly, and quince pudding. You can also peel, roast, bake, or stew them. As the fruit gets riper, the amount of pectin goes down.

When quince fruit is cooked for a long time with sugar, its flesh turns red. This happens because of something called anthocyanins. Quinces have a very strong, pleasant smell. Because of this, you can add a small amount of quince to apple pies or apple jam to make the flavor even better. Adding diced quince to apple sauce will also improve its taste with firm, tart pieces of quince.

The word "marmalade" actually comes from the Portuguese word marmelo, which means quince. Originally, marmalade was a type of quince jam!

Quince cheese

Quince cheese is a firm, sticky, sweet, reddish paste made from quince fruit. It first came from Spain and Portugal. In Portuguese-speaking countries, it's called marmelada. In Spanish-speaking countries, it's known as dulce de membrillo. People use it in many recipes, eat it in sandwiches, or with cheese. It's traditionally eaten with Manchego cheese. In Chile, boiled quince is a popular dessert, sometimes mixed with Chilean guava.