Quince

Produced in the region of La Mancha, Queso Manchego is among Spain's most noteworthy cheeses. It is often served with quince paste (membrillo) — an inspired union of flavors. Spanish Manchego can now be found in many supermarkets. Quince paste is available at some supermarkets and specialty foods stores and online from thespanishtable.com.

The combination of meat and fruit is common in Middle Eastern cuisine. If you aren't familiar with quinces, you might mistake them for hard, yellow apples. They are too tart to eat raw, but become fragrantly delicious (and a lovely shade of pink) when cooked with sugar. Serve this dish with the bulgur with apricots and almonds.

The flavor of this chutney improves if made at least one day ahead. Serve with: Indian dishes (such as basmati rice and curries), lamb, duck, pork chops, or sharp cheeses.

(Mele Cotogne in Giulebbe) Poached quinces in a clove-and-cinnamon-scented syrup are served at Rosh Hashanah and to break the fast at Yom Kippur. In this version, the quinces are left unpeeled for the preliminary cooking in water, and then peeled and cooked in syrup. In La cucina livornese, Pia Bedarida recommends peeling the quinces, letting them rest to take on a reddish brown color as they oxidize, and then cooking them in syrup. Other cooks peel the quinces and cook them immediately, but suggest saving the peels and seeds and cooking them along with the sliced quinces. Still another recipe uses wine instead of water.

This recipe is an accompaniment for Mascarpone Cheesecake with Quince Compote .

Manchego, made from rich sheep's milk, is perhaps the best known of the Spanish cheeses. Its flavor, similar to that of Parmigiano-Reggiano, provides an ideal foil for fruit or quince paste, a traditional accompaniment.

In this recipe we slowly "double-cook" the quince, which prevents the fruit from crystallizing and heightens the pinkish- orange color it turns when cooked.

The name for this flaky pastry comes from the French term for a Venetian blind, which-like the dessert-has slit openings through which one can peek.

It's difficult to choose ripe quinces because their flesh, unlike that of other fruits, doesn't soften. You have to use your nose, sniffing out the heady floral fragrance that signals that the quince is ripe.

(GELEE DE COING) The lemon juice is really only necessary if the quince jelly doesn't "take" within the allotted time.

The acidity of the vinegar and grapefruit is balanced by the quince, apple, and pear flavors in this French-style chutney. Bananas add creaminess. Use ripe fruit for best results.

Active time: 45 min Start to finish: 3 1/4 hr

Applesauce can begin as a soothing breakfast fruit and end as a dessert, tucked inside a buckwheat crêpe or made into the glorious dessert. The pressure cooker in tandem with the food mill eliminates the need to peel and core the apples. You can have applesauce in 15 minutes. Quinces give applesauce an elusive perfume and turn it rosy pink.

Made with heavy cream and gelatin instead of eggs, this no-bake cheesecake has the silky texture of panna cotta. Begin preparing it at least one day ahead.

Quince paste has a texture somewhere between that of stiff jelly and gumdrops.