Tuesday, February 07, 2006

Chinese quince tree





I was curious what a quince tree looked like (see post below). I wish I had a garden.

And here are some charmingly weird recipes for quince:

Medicinal virtues:
A grateful cordial is made by digesting in three pints (i.6 1) of the clarified juice, a dram (i. 7 g) of Cinnamon and half a dram (89o rng) each of Ginger and Cloves, by keeping it warm for six hours and then adding a pint (568 mi) of red port, dissolving in it nine pounds (4 kg) of sugar and straining it. A quince jelly is made by boiling the juice with a sufficient quantity of sugar until it attains a due consistency.
The seeds abound with a soft mucilaginous substance which they readily impart to boiling water, making it like white of egg. This is excellent for sore mouths and to soften and moisten the mouth and throat in fevers and other diseases. The green fruit helps fluxes in man or woman, and choleric laxes. Boiled in water, the mucilage heals the sore breasts of women.

Yum, "mucilaginous substance." Begone "fluxes" and "choleric laxes!"

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