Oh, @raven1 , dear friend, you have never had baked quince -- with brown sugar and raisins -- from my kitchen! You have not spooned my syruped golden cubes of quince over vanilla ice cream. Nor sat to have my Spanish braise of rabbit cooked with with membrillo (never it call it "cheese" -- that's just ugly)
But the comments here set me off to the heights of rebuttals' fancy, which means, poetry! Savor or hold your nose, because here's my ode to the first glory of Eden's garden.
With fragrance like before the Fall,
Ripe Quince rival the Taj Mahal.
Membrillo lush, to cut and cook with hare,
Slices of heaven, human-made,
What delights the first forbidden fruit snare
Against dull apples by compare.
Our very word for marmalade,
Though forgotten by fickle fate,
Is homage to the dear quince paid;
It shall succumb to no one’s shade.
Candied, set as a sugared mate,
Each cake bow down in fruity awe
To be amongst that potentate,
And have its Grace to celebrate.
In my kitchen now, one may draw
The scent of paradise from them,
Foreshadowing some divine law,
Till mankind fix its every flaw.
_